WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush's approval rating has slipped 6 percent from November to 49 percent, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll published Tuesday said.
The slide makes Bush the first incumbent president to have an approval rating below 50 percent one month after winning re-election, CNN said.
When asked how the United States has handled Iraq during the past year, 47 percent of 1,002 people surveyed by telephone said things have gotten worse, 20 percent said the situation has improved and 32 percent said it is about the same. The differences fell outside the question's margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Also for the first time, USA Today said a majority of 51 percent disapprove of the decision to go to war in Iraq, and 58 percent disapprove of the way the United States has handled Iraq over the past few months.
