Bush's approval rating hits new low

WASHINGTON - A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released today put President George W Bush's approval rating at 36 per cent, a new low for that poll but similar to his rating in other recent surveys.

The poll, taken Friday through Saturday, showed Bush's approval rating dropped from 38 per cent in late February-early March, while his disapproval rating remained steady at 60 per cent.

A recent CBS poll put Bush's approval rating at 34 per cent amid public doubts about the Iraq war and Bush's support for allowing some US ports to be controlled by a Dubai company.

On the same day Bush launched another offensive to build public support for the war in Iraq, the CNN poll showed more than half of Americans, 57 per cent, believed the war was a mistake and half believed the war was going badly.

Two-thirds, 67 per cent, of respondents thought Bush did not have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq, said the poll of 1,001 adults, which had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

- REUTERS