Bush's Poll Troubles

According to a NY Times/CBS poll, Bush's approval rating is down to 42%. Interestingly, that's about where he was a year ago. It briefly climbed to 51% just before the November elections (how convenient). He is at under 50% in terms of his handling the economy, Iraq, foreign policy in general, and Social Security (a whopping 62% of those polled disapprove of how he is handling Social Security, and 66% say they don't have confidence in his ability to make the right decisions for SS---I'm not sure why those two numbers aren't the same). The only area where a majority approves of Bush's performance is the War on Terror, where 52% approve. That seems a little strange to me: Bush made Iraq the major front in the war on terror, so if you disapprove of the Iraq war, how can you approve of his handling of the WOT? Maybe the public just assumes he's doing something right, since there have been no successful domestic terrorist acts since 2001?

On the Republican congress, the verdict of the public is even more negative: Only 33% believe that Congress is doing a good job. That sounds abysmal, but it is pretty meaningless as a predictor for future Congressional shakeups. Voters may disapprove of the behavior of other congressmen, but for the most part, they believe that their own congressman is doing a good job.