Public Approval Slips For Congress And President

WASHINGTON (AP) Public approval for President Bush and Congress has sunk to the lowest levels ever recorded in The Associated Press-Ipsos poll. <br/><br/>Only 31 percent said they approve of the job President

Thursday, October 4th 2007, 10:39 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) Public approval for President Bush and Congress has sunk to the lowest levels ever recorded in The Associated Press-Ipsos poll.

Only 31 percent said they approve of the job President Bush is doing, according to the survey released on Thursday. Though his positive ratings have hovered at about that range since last year, his lowest previous approval in the AP-Ipsos survey was 32 percent, which was recorded several times, most recently in June. That is virtually even with the latest reading.

Amid a major credit crunch and a weak housing market, a record low 34 percent said they approved of President Bush's performance in handling the economy. His prior low in the poll was 37 percent.

President Bush also hit a new low with 31 percent approving of his work on domestic issues like health care, just below June's 32 percent. The poll was taken as Bush was about to veto a measure adding $35 billion to children's health coverage.

Congress' job performance was approved by just 22 percent, continuing a gradual decline in the public's assessment since Democrats took over in January. Its lowest reading in the poll was 24 percent, recorded most recently in July.

AP-Ipsos polling began in December 2003.

President Truman's approval ratings of 23 percent recorded in both 1951 and 1952 were the lowest ever recorded by the Gallup Poll. Congress' Gallup Poll low was 18 percent in 1992.

The AP-Ipsos poll was conducted from October 1-3 and involved telephone interviews with 1,005 adults. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.