You've all heard by now that GW's brief bout with above-40% poll numbers (mainly due to fifth anniversary 9/11 sentiment) is over.

Time just came out with 36%, but for those who repeatedly blabber about cherry-picking the worst poll numbers, oh let's see, Pew Research latest is 37%, AP-Ipsos has 38%, and Newsweek has 33%(!). So let's call it 33%-38%, or below that already pathetic "key" level of 40%. Even worse, in the Time poll, 65% disapprove of GW's handling of the war and 54% believe he deliberately misled the country in making the case for war (Newsweek has it at 58%).

Bush has made it his mantra to try with all his might to link Iraq to the war on terror. Well if 65% disapprove of his handling of Iraq, then I imagine nearly two-thirds of the country disapprove of his handling of the war on terror. That should be huge come November. And the 54%-58% that believe Bush lied, again lied, to get us into this mess, the trend of that number has been in the right direction (up) but still should be much higher.

In addition to all this encouraging news, apparently the "God gap" is shrinking (thank heavens!):

In 2004, white evangelical or born-again Christians made up a quarter of the electorate, and 78 percent of them voted Republican, according to exit polls. But some pollsters believe that evangelical support for the GOP peaked two years ago and that what has been called the "God gap" in politics is shrinking.

A nationwide poll of 1,500 registered voters released yesterday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that 57 percent of white evangelicals are inclined to vote for Republican congressional candidates in the midterm elections, a 21-point drop in support among this critical part of the GOP base.

Even before the Foley scandal, the portion of white evangelicals with a "favorable" impression of the Republican Party had fallen sharply this year, from 63 percent to 54 percent, according to Pew polls.

In the latest survey, taken in the last 10 days of September and the first four days of October, the percentage of evangelicals who think that Republicans govern "in a more honest and ethical way" than Democrats has plunged to 42 percent, from 55 percent at the start of the year.