Public approval of President Bush's handling of the economy and his handling of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait dropped in recent weeks, according to a CBS News-New York Times poll released Saturday. Bush's 60 percent overall approval rating in the poll is the worst of his presidency, but still higher than that recorded for Presidents Reagan and Carter at the same point in their administrations. The poll found a majority of Americans still approves of Bush's actions in the Persian Gulf, but the 57 percent approval rating is down from 75 percent soon after the invasion. The poll found 34 percent disapproved of Bush's handling of Iraq. Asked to rate Bush's handling of the economy, 52 percent said they disapproved and 36 percent said they approved. In August, 45 percent approved of Bush's handling of the economy, and 44 percent disapproved. Amid heightened concern over Bush's handling of the economy and the budget deficit, 30 percent said they disapproved of his overall performance - the highest level of his presidency in the CBS-New York Times poll. The poll was conducted among a random sample of 960 adults around the United States interviewed by telephone Monday through Wednesday. Results of such a poll should generally be accurate to within 3 percentage points in either direction.
