Lower

Another poll, another new low. Ho hum.

President Bush's approval ratings hit a series of new lows in an AP-Ipsos poll that also shows Republicans surrendering their advantage on national security — grim election-year news for a party struggling to stay in power.

[...]

• Just 36 percent of the public approves of Bush's job performance, his lowest-ever rating in AP-Ipsos polling. By contrast, the president's job approval rating was 47 percent among likely voters just before Election Day 2004 and a whopping 64 percent among registered voters in October 2002.

• Only 40 percent of the public approves of Bush's performance on foreign policy and the war on terror, another low-water mark for his presidency. That's down 9 points from a year ago. Just before the 2002 election, 64 percent of registered voters backed Bush on terror and foreign policy.

Like rats fleeing a sinking ship, GOP lawmakers will go to great lengths to avoid being photographed with toxic George. But they still want money, so its likely you'll see a lot more fundraising events in the coming months that feature Bush, but not the candidate he's stumping for.

The story also points out that

There is more at stake than the careers of GOP lawmakers. A Democratic-led Congress could bury the last vestiges of Bush's legislative agenda and subject the administration to high-profile investigations of the Iraq war, the CIA leak case, warrantless eavesdropping and other matters.

You don't think an administration with a history of questionable election results is going to leave these elections, and possibly their own fates, to chance, do you? Watch for all kinds of crazy shit on election night -- things we've seen before, like results that differ widly from exit polls and hassles at polling places in Democratic precincts, and probably some ugliness we haven't even thought of yet, not being professional election riggers and all.