How low can he go?

A new poll, a new low.

More and more people, particularly Republicans, disapprove of President Bush's performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the bleakest points of his presidency.

Nearly four out of five Americans, including 70 percent of Republicans, believe civil war will break out in Iraq — the bloody hot spot upon which Bush has staked his presidency. Nearly 70 percent of people say the U.S. is on the wrong track, a 6-point jump since February.

"I'm not happy with how things are going," said Margaret Campanelli, a retiree in Norwich, Conn., who said she tends to vote Republican. "I'm particularly not happy with Iraq, not happy with how things worked with Hurricane Katrina."

Republican Party leaders said the survey explains why GOP lawmakers are rushing to distance themselves from Bush on a range of issues — port security, immigration, spending, warrantless eavesdropping and trade, for example.

Not because Bush's ideas are wrong for the country, mind you, but because GOP lawmakers are worried about their own electability. If Bush were popular, these weasels would line up behind any stupid idea the administration proposed (can you say "tax cuts during wartime" and "USA PATRIOT Act"?)

"You're in the position of this cycle now that is difficult anyway. In second term off-year elections, there gets to be a familiarity factor," said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a potential presidential candidate.

"People have seen and heard (Bush's) ideas long enough and that enters into their thinking. People are kind of, `Well, I wonder what other people can do,'" he said.

Yeah, familiarity. That's the problem. Unless he means that the American people are finally onto Bush.

Sen. Brownback's inane explanation doesn't account for the fact that, as the story reports, Clinton and Reagan had approval ratings in the mid 60s at this point of their presidencies. Nixon, the story says, was in the 20s.

I guess people were real familiar with him.

The poll suggests that most Americans wonder whether Bush is up to the job. The survey, conducted Monday through Wednesday of 1,000 people, found that just 37 percent approve of his overall performance. That is the lowest of his presidency.

On issues, Bush's approval rating declined from 39 percent to 36 percent for his handling of domestic affairs and from 47 percent to 43 percent on foreign policy and terrorism. His approval ratings for dealing with the economy and Iraq held steady, but still hovered around 40 percent.

Maybe this means Bush will get to vacation through the entire month of August again this year instead of campaigning for GOP Congressmen and gubernatorial hopefuls.

Oh, I'm sorry. That's unfair. He didn't vacation throughout August last year -- he cut that vacation short, to only 29 days.

My bad.