President's Ratings Still High, Poll Shows (washingtonpost.com)

By most measures, Bush has returned to mortal levels in public opinion. Sixty-six percent of Americans continue to approve of his work -- an enviable level but well below the 92 percent support he received just after the attacks and closer to the 59 percent approval he had in July 2001. Yet, 75 percent said they viewed Bush as a "strong leader," up 20 percentage points from July 2001.

Ruy Teixeira, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and co-author of "The Emerging Democratic Majority," believes the leadership ratings are narrowly based on Sept. 11, 2001, and thus precarious. He predicts Bush's approval ratings "will resume their decline."

Bush's image of strength explains why he wins similarly high marks for his personal traits and his work as president. Sixty-six percent have a favorable impression of Bush, identical to the number who approve of his job performance. By comparison, Bill Clinton in his second term often had job-approval ratings as high as Bush's current rating but the number of Americans viewing him favorably dipped as low as 39 percent.