Bush's Job Approval Stuck Near Bottom

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

Fri Feb 10, 7:56 PM ET

President Bush's marks on overall job approval and for handling the economy are mired near their lowest levels despite a spike in consumer confidence over the past month, an AP-Ipsos poll found.

Bush's job approval is now at 40 percent and his approval on handling the economy at 39 percent. Those numbers haven't budged over the last month even with the public's confidence in the economy growing and the president delivering an upbeat State of the Union address.

Consumer confidence was measured at its highest level in 16 months in the RBC CASH index released Friday.

The AP-Ipsos poll found that the president has slightly improved his standing on handling foreign policy and terrorism to 47 percent. This comes as the public has grown more accepting of the administration's policy on domestic eavesdropping, with almost half now supporting it — up from 42 percent last month.

The president has been campaigning aggressively for that program over the last month, repeatedly telling people that eavesdropping on some international calls is legal and necessary in his war against terrorism.

The poll found low approval of Congress with 47 percent wanting Democrats to take control. Republican control was favored by 37 percent.

The telephone poll of 1,000 adults was conducted Monday through Wednesday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.