35% (Harris/Wall Street Journal) + Gallup Update

The Chimp in Winter (Now a Spring of Discontent)

Another new set of polling data, another dip in the numbers. Via the WSJ:

President Bush's job-approval rating slipped for the third consecutive month and remains near the lowest mark of his presidency, according to a new Harris Interactive poll.

Thirty-five percent of 1,008 U.S. adults surveyed in the telephone poll think Mr. Bush is doing an "excellent or pretty good" job as president, down from 36% in March and significantly lower than 43% in January. This compares with 63% of Americans who said Mr. Bush is doing an "only fair or poor" job, down from 64% in March.

He's also down to 71% support from Republicans. One bit of disappointing data--the numbers for a Republican/Democratic congress swung a bit more right, with Republicans gaining 3 points to 37% and Dems losing 2 points to 41%.

[UPDATE] Just ran into the Gallup poll that was released yesterday, where the President's approval number sits at 36%--which is "tied as the lowest of his presidency, but statistically unchanged across five polls conducted since late February." However, Editor & Publisher notes that this poll finds the divide between Congressional Republicans and Democrats growing:

Gallup also notes that Democrat-leaning Americans "report heightened levels of enthusiasm about voting this year, a departure from each of the last three midterm elections. Compared with recent midterm elections, Republicans' enthusiasm is lower. The relative enthusiasm Republicans and Democrats express has borne some relation to the outcomes in recent midterm elections."

In the April 7-9 poll, Democrats lead Republicans by 52% to 42% among registered voters in Gallup's generic congressional ballot, a measure of whether voters support the Republican or Democratic U.S. House candidate in their district.

But Gallup also observes, "In midterm elections, fewer than half of eligible voters usually turn out to vote, and Republicans are more likely to turn out than Democrats (the registered voter number assumes equal and full turnout among all party groups). Nevertheless, a double-digit lead on the generic ballot suggests a strong positioning for the Democrats, even with different turnout levels."

GOTV--get out the vote, in any way you can this year!