Bush's approval at 31 percent in poll

WASHINGTON — President Bush's approval rating fell to 31 percent in a USA Today/Gallup Poll released Monday, the lowest recorded in the survey and a drop of three percentage points in a week.

Bush's approval rating, at 34 percent a week ago, tumbled on declining support from conservatives and Republicans. The poll found 52 percent of conservatives and 68 percent of Republicans approved of Bush's performance, record lows in both categories.

Bush's approval rating has been mired in the low and mid-30s in most surveys amid public unease about the Iraq war and rising gasoline prices. His plummeting standing has caused growing worry among Republicans about November's elections, when the balance of power in Congress will be up for grabs.

The poll of 1,013 adults, taken Friday through Sunday, had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Harris can't win, Fla. governor says

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday that U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris has dropped so low in public opinion polls she cannot beat Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in November.

"I just don't think she can win," Bush said about his fellow Republican's struggling campaign. Bush noted that polls show Harris running about 30 points behind Nelson.

"With all due respect to the governor ... we know we can win," Harris told reporters Monday after filing her qualifying papers.

Harris has been dogged by staff turnover and her acceptance of $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions from defense contractor Mitchell Wade, who pleaded guilty to bribing former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif.

Harris rose to national prominence as Florida's secretary of state during the contentious presidential election recount in 2000, the election that resulted in the governor's brother winning Florida by 537 votes and the presidency.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Monday blocked Republican medical malpractice legislation during the GOP's opening session of a "health week" of proposals designed to win support from conservative voters — if not passage.

The dispatch of a pair of bills to cap the amount of damages juries can award in medical malpractice cases has been expected since last week.

The roll calls fell well short of the 60 votes Republicans needed to advance the bills, which would have capped punitive and pain-and-suffering awards against doctors or health-care institutions.

Republicans forced votes on the bills to demonstrate the GOP's commitment to fighting what Majority Leader Bill Frist called a "litigation lottery."

"It really boils down to the fact that health-care dollars should be spent on patients and not on lawyers who are out abusing the system," said Frist, R-Tenn.

Democrats have dismissed the bills as a boon to the insurance industry and an election-year effort by majority Republicans struggling against low poll numbers to maintain control of Congress.

Also

The American Bar Association downgraded its rating of President Bush's appellate court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to "qualified" from "well-qualified" after new interviews raised concerns about his courtroom experience and open-mindedness, the chairman of the peer-review panel said Monday.

Compiled from The Associated Press and Reuters