Bush Approval Rating

Andrew Sullivan has a link to the latest Survey USA state polls of Bush approval ratings. The President has positive approval ratings in only three states--Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. (When you're a Republican president and your disapproval numbers are larger than your approval numbers in Oklahoma, you know you're in trouble.)

The most signficant result, however, comes in the two states carried by Bush in 2004 where his approval rating currently is the lowest: Ohio, at 32%; and Missouri, at a stunning 29%. Perhaps not coincidentally, those two states have highly vulnerable Republican senators attempting to win reelection in 2006: Mike Dewine in Ohio, Jim Talent in Missouri. Based on these numbers, and the fact that Missouri's Claire McCaskill is a stronger challenger than Ohio's Sherrod Brown, I'd say Talent might now be the more vulnerable of the duo, but clearly both are in tough shape.

The approval numbers for the other states with competitive Senate elections this year: Nebraska, 47%; Montana, 46%; Arizona, 39%; Tennessee, 37%; Minnesota, 33%; Maryland, 29%; Pennsylvania, 28%; New Jersey, 26%; Rhode Island, 23% (Bush's worst state).