The American Spectator

More on the raw data from that New York Times/CBS poll:

-Support for the President’s handling of the war in Iraq is up 4 points.

-48 percent approve of his handling of the war on terror in general, versus 45 who disapprove. The approval is only up by 1 point.

-Congress’s approval rating is much lower than the President’s, though virtually unchanged at 33 percent approve, 53 percent disapprove.

-However, numbers for respondents’ individual members of Congress are up to 60 percent approval from 57 percent.

-An understanding of the economy’s red hot performance seems to have broken through: 55 percent say the economy is in fairly good or very good condition, up from 47 percent. 35 percent still believe the economy is getting worse, 19 percent think it’s improving.

-59 percent abortion should be not permitted or at least restricted.

-Sam Alito’s numbers are barely registering, with 14 percent favorable and 10 percent unfavorable. The smears against him haven’t taken hold.

-The public is evenly divided over whether the war in Iraq was a good idea, 48 percent saying it was the right thing, 48 percent saying we should have stayed out. The “right thing” figure is up from 44 percent in September.