The increasingly gloomy political environment, dragging Iraq war and inclusive policy debates in Washington have brought down President George Bush's job approval rating to all time low of 29 per cent, a just released opinion poll shows.
As many as 66 per cent of those surveyed disapprove of his presidency. But the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll had encouraging news for former first lady Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton who strengthened her position among the hopefuls seeking Democratic Party nomination for next year's presidential elections.
The poll, which has margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, found that just 19 per cent of Americans now say that nation is headed in the right direction, while 68 per cent say things in the US 'are on the wrong track.'
The telephone survey of 1,008 adults was conducted from June 8 to 11 by Republican pollster Neil Newhouse and his Democratic counterpart Peter Hart.
The fallout from that bleak mood affects the Democratic-controlled Congress as well as the Republican president. Just 23 per cent of Americans approve the performance of Congress.
Among Republicans, front-runner Rudy Giuliani has lost ground, dropping to 29 per cent support among rank-and-file Republicans from 33 per cent in April. Trailing the former New York City mayor with 20 per cent is former Sen Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who hasn't even formally entered the race yet.
