The blatant disregard for legal precedent and good policy finally appears to have caught up to President Bush and the Republican Congress. The AP passes on the results of the most recently published public opinion poll.

More than two-thirds of people who describe themselves as evangelicals and conservatives disapprove of the intervention by Congress and President Bush in the case of the Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman at the center of a national debate.

A CBS News poll found that four of five people polled opposed federal intervention, with levels of disapproval among key groups supporting the GOP almost that high.

Bush's overall approval was at 43 percent, down from 49 percent last month.

Looking at the specific data from the poll, a number of other things pop out. Firstly, Congress' approval rating has dropped seven points in one month, from 41% to 34%. Congress has not been this unpopular since 1997 in the wake of GOP investigations into Democratic fundraising.

Also interesting to note is that the President's approval on Iraq is down to 39%, a drop of six points this month. This is consequential due to the fact that there have not been any major attacks recently.

As the President nears the 30s in approval rating (I'm not, by any means, predicting that he will go to the 30s, though he could), his sway in Congress diminishes greatly. All of the sudden, the nuclear option becomes less appealing, privatization less likely, etc. The extremes of the Republican Party -- the few moderates and the far right -- will begin splintering off, making it tougher to pass legislation. Momentum will be on the side of the Dems, who will feel emboldened. Bush needs to do something soon to turn things around or else he's going to look like Jimmy Carter pretty soon.