Bush's Poll Numbers Tick Up Again

The president's approval numbers are edging up:

We’re seeing some slight hints of positive news for the Bush administration. For one thing, Bush’s job approval rating has stopped its downward trajectory. Bush hit bottom with his administration low point of 29% in early July (based on our USA Today/Gallup poll readings). Now – in the data just about to be released from our weekend poll – Bush's approval rating has recovered slightly to 34%. That’s not a big jump, but it is the second consecutive poll in which the president’s numbers have been higher rather than lower.

Batting .340 will keep you in the major leagues a long, long time, but it's not a very good average for a politician. Two successive increases indicates that some of the good news from Iraq is sinking in, and that members of the president's own party are starting to come back to him. He still has a long way to go, but he can feel a little better about the state of his presidency.