It could be worse...

The NYT notes President Bush's approval rating (31%) is the lowest of his presidency. But...

The political situation has not helped some of the more prominent members of the Democratic Party. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who was Mr. Bush's opponent in 2004, had a lower approval rating than Mr. Bush: 26 percent, down from 40 percent in a poll conducted right after the election.

And just 28 percent said they had a favorable view of Al Gore, one of Mr. Bush's more vocal critics.

(These are the last two paragraphs of a long story on Mr. Bush's poll numbers).