FIELD POLL / Approval of Bush on war, economy skids to new lows / No president since Nixon has rated worse in California

U.S. President George W. Bush laughs among soldiers during his visit to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in the Californian desert, April 4, 2007. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES) U.S. President George W. Bush laughs among soldiers during his visit to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in the Californian desert, April 4, 2007. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES) Photo: JASON REED Photo: JASON REED Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close FIELD POLL / Approval of Bush on war, economy skids to new lows / No president since Nixon has rated worse in California 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

California voters' approval of President Bush -- now engaged in a war of words with Democratic congressional leadership over funding and American troop withdrawals in Iraq -- has disintegrated to the lowest levels since he took office, according to a Field Poll released today.

Much of the president's plunging popularity is due to California voters' opposition to the war, the poll showed, as more of his fellow Republicans desert him over his handling of Iraq.

Just 26 percent of California voters surveyed by the Field Poll approved of the president's performance in office -- nearly reaching the record low 24 percent approval rating of former President Richard Nixon in August 1974, just before his resignation over the Watergate scandal.

The poll showed that just 24 percent of the state's voters saw the president's performance in Iraq in a positive light, compared with 72 percent who viewed it negatively, the poll showed.

Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll, said the results reflected a "really dismal" loss of confidence in Bush, saying that "what is driving (his numbers) down now is that the Republicans seem to have greater reservations and are more critical of the president than they have ever been.

"That's the only way an elected official can get into the 20s," DiCamillo said. "You have to start losing your rank and file."

The Field Poll showed that "majorities of Californians now hold positions diametrically opposed" to those of the president on the Iraq war. Two-thirds opposed the president's decision to increase American troops by 20,000 in Iraq, nearly 60 percent echoed Democratic efforts in Congress by favoring a timetable for troop withdrawal, and half said the U.S. presence in Iraq "decreases the chances of bringing peace and stability" to that nation, the poll showed.

The findings come as the president this week repeatedly vowed to veto any emergency spending bill for the war that includes a timetable to bring the troops home. Democrats in the House and Senate have approved separate versions of the spending bill, which include different withdrawal requirements. The versions must be reconciled into one bill when Congress returns from its holiday recess before it can be sent to the president.

The president's collapsing numbers and the loss of confidence, DiCamillo said, now extend to voters' growing disapproval of Bush's handling of the economy. The latest poll showed that just 1 in 3 California voters approved of the president's performance on the economy, the lowest assessment ever given Bush in this area.

The Field Poll surveyed 1,093 registered voters March 20-31. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The Field Poll results mirror a new poll from the San Jose State University Survey and Policy Research Institute released this week, which showed that Bush's approval rating stood at 23 percent among state voters.

The institute's poll showed that the president has suffered a devastating loss in credibility among state residents -- just 28 percent of Californians answered "yes" to the question: "Generally speaking, do you believe what President Bush tells the American people is true?"

The San Jose institute's survey found that the president's positive rating on his handling of the war was a mere 21 percent, with just 1 in 5 people saying the Iraq war has made the United States safer and 24 percent saying the war has been "worth it."

The institute surveyed 846 California adults March 26-30, including 574 voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points for the overall survey and 4 percentage points for the smaller sample of registered voters.