The latest CBS News/New York Times poll is now available, and like the recent trend, President Bush and the Republican Party appear to be faltering.

For the first time, just half of Americans approve of Mr. Bush's handling of terrorism, which has been his most consistent strength since he scored 90 percent approval ratings in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. More than 6 in 10 now say that he does not share their priorities for the country, 10 percentage points worse than on the eve of his re-election last fall, while barely half say he has strong qualities of leadership, about the same as said so at the early low-ebb of his presidency in the summer of 2001.

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Over all, 41 percent of respondents approved of Mr. Bush's performance in office, while 53 percent disapproved. Those figures are in line with other national polls conducted in the last week, roughly equal to the worst ratings Mr. Bush has ever received, comparable to Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton's worst ratings, but well above the worst ever posted by the president's father, Jimmy Carter and Richard M. Nixon.

The poll also finds that Americans are not quite as afraid of taxes as some on the right might have you think.

Overall, Americans would rank the New Orleans rebuilding efforts as a higher urgency than two items that have been high on the Bush Administration's priority list for some time -- tax cuts and changes to Social Security. In separate questions, 73 percent of Americans said they'd prioritize rebuilding New Orleans over cutting taxes, and 63 percent would put reconstructing the Crescent City ahead of changing Social Security.

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Most Americans would be willing to pay more in taxes to help recovery efforts, generally, and to help pay for housing and job re-training for the displaced victims, as well.

Will the GOP still move forward with its attempt to rid the country of the estate tax?