IT'S POLL DAY

ABC/WashingtonPost is out today:

A majority of Americans -- 57 percent -- say they want their next president to steer the country away from the course set by Bush, according to the survey. Bush's standing hit new lows in crucial areas such as the economy (39 percent support him), Iraq (46 percent) and the budget deficit (30 percent).

Bush's overall support, 50 percent, was unchanged from February and equal to the lowest of his presidency; only the war on terrorism continues to garner Bush the support of more than six in 10 Americans.

As a result of these doubts, Bush narrowly trails likely Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry by four percentage points, 48 to 44 percent, among registered voters in a hypothetical presidential matchup. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader claims 3 percent. Of a dozen policy areas, Kerry leads Bush in eight, including the economy, education and health care, while Bush leads only in the war on terrorism. The two are virtually tied in the other three: Iraq, gay marriage and civil liberties.

And one for the fridge of your friendly neighborhood cooperative:

In a bit of good news for Bush, Nader is drawing essentially all of his support from Kerry, who leads Bush by nine percentage points in a two-way matchup with the president -- an indication Nader could play the spoiler for Democrats in 2004 as he did four years ago. Underscoring that potential, nearly two thirds of Democrats opposed Nader's decision to run, while half of all Republicans approve of his move.

And of course, Bush is a uniter, not a divider:

The Post-ABC survey reflects the pounding Bush has taken from Democrats during the primaries, as well as disappointing news about job creation and more signs of difficulty in Iraq. While half approve of the overall job Bush is doing, the proportions of Americans who disapprove (48 percent) and strongly disapprove (36 percent) have never been higher. Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq has shifted from strength to weakness, with a double-digit increase in opposition this year.

Bush no longer is viewed as someone who can bring the country together. Slightly under half the public say the president has done more to unite the country while just as many say he's done more to divide Americans. Fifty-four percent of Americans view Kerry favorably while just 26 percent take an unfavorable view (respondents were evenly divided on Bush, 47 to 46). Nearly half -- 49 percent -- of those interviewed said they trusted Kerry to handle the biggest issues facing the country while 44 percent preferred Bush. Barely a month ago, the two were tied.

For all I've excerpted, there's even more.

Again, the usual caveats, long way to go, and so on.

UPDATE: I was thinking about that 57% of voters who want the next president "to steer the country away from the course set by Bush", according to the poll, when it hit me: From the looks of Bush's first round of ads -- "America is turning the corner" -- isn't that what Bush wants to do too? You know all that bad stuff that happened in my first term? Well elect me to a second term, and all kinds of different stuff will happen!