Gops awaken: Most polls taken since the Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Gulf Coast show that public approval of President Bush is declining. What is causing the decline?

Andy Kohut, director of the Pew poll says, “Uncharacteristically, the president’s ratings have slipped most among his core constituents — Republicans and conservatives.”

In the Pew survey, Republicans gave President Bush a job approval rating of 79 percent – down from 88 percent in July. Among Democrats, his approval was 19 percent compared with 18 percent in July, and among independents it was 33 percent versus 32 percent.

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