dupe - sorry :(

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=5122245

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While President Bush remains essentially even with Democratic challenger John Kerry in new opinion polls, voters are slowly sinking into the kind of pessimistic funk that doomed other presidents -- including Bush's father.

Several recent polls show Bush's approval ratings slipping below 50 percent amid growing doubts among voters about his handling of the war in Iraq and of the economy.

Growing majorities believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, a traditional early indicator of the electorate's mood and a clear warning sign for an incumbent trying to persuade the public to rehire him four more years.

"He is in dangerous territory now," pollster John Zogby said of Bush, although Democratic challenger John Kerry so far has failed to take much advantage of Bush's slump six months before the November election.

Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup poll, said Bush's slowly sinking job approval rating, down to 46 percent in his latest survey, was similar to the dropping trajectory of the last three incumbents to lose their elections -- George Bush, the current president's father, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.

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