US president George W. Bush's approval rating slipped to a new low in the latest national survey with pollsters suggesting federal government intervention in the Terri Schiavo controversy may have been a factor along with growing concern about the economy.
The USA Today/CNN/Gallup survey released yesterday found 45 per cent of those surveyed thought Mr Bush was doing a good job, compared with 52 per cent during three previous surveys in late February and early March.
The president's previous low since taking office in January 2001 was 46 per cent in May 2004.
Mr Bush's involvement in the Schiavo case in Florida "may be a major cause" for the seven-point drop, the Gallup Organization said.
The president broke off his Texas vacation to sign emergency legislation on Monday that permitted federal courts to consider appeals by Ms Schiavo's parents to force the reconnection of a feeding tube to prolong the life of the brain-damaged woman.
Fifty-nine per cent of those surveyed believed the economy was getting worse, up nine points from earlier this month. The overall figure is Mr Bush's worst negative figure on the economy in two years.
Seventeen per cent cited rising fuel costs as the most important economic problem facing the country, up from 5 percent a month ago. Rising crude oil costs helped to push national petrol prices to a record $2.11 a gallon this week.