The sound of one man dropping

If it quacks like a lame duck and is accompanied by the deafening sound of a slide whistle, it means a new survey on President Bush's job rating has been released. According to a recent poll by SurveyUSA, Bush's nationwide public-approval rating has dipped to a scanty 41 percent. This makes Bush even less popular than when he snared the title of the least-popular second-term president ever a few months back, when a Gallup Poll found Bush's approval rating at a mere 45 percent. Of course Bush has steadfastly maintained that Americans don't want a president who relies on focus groups and polls to make decisions, so it's not entirely surprising that his stubborn "resolve" and lack of grasp of the word "democracy" has caused the continual plummet.

Here in Minnesota, Dubya's approval rating fell to 39 percent, down ten points from last month. Our blue state gave the president his biggest drop of the 50 states, just one point ahead of New Mexico. Surprisingly, Bush's lowest approval ratings aren't in the neon-blue Twin Cities (39 percent), but the southern region of the state, where only 36 percent of people surveyed support Bush.