In the latest Gallup poll commissioned by USA Today and CNN, President Bush's approval rating stands at 42 percent, up from 39 percent earlier this month but "within the poll's sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, so it's possible that the public's opinion has not changed at all." Among the other key findings of the survey:

A majority would vote for a Democrat over President Bush if an election were held this year, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll released Tuesday.

In the latest poll, 55 percent of the respondents said that they would vote for the Democratic candidate if Bush were again running for the presidency this year.

Thirty-nine percent of those interviewed said they would vote for Bush in the hypothetical election.

Gallup also finds that on a wide range of topics, the public favors the approach of the Democratic Party to that of the GOP.

On separate issues, a majority of those questioned felt the Democrats could do a better job than Republicans at handling health care (59 percent to 30 percent), Social Security (56 percent to 33 percent), gasoline prices (51 percent to 31 percent) and the economy (50 percent to 38 percent).

Forty-six percent also believed Democrats could do better at handling Iraq, while 40 percent said the GOP would do better.

In a related story, SurveyUSA today released its October numbers on all 100 U.S. Senators. Seven out of the top ten rated Senators are Democrats; seven out of the bottom ten rated Senators are Republican. Oregon Senators Ron Wyden (D) and Gordon Smith (R) are fairly popular, at 61 percent and 55 percent approval, respectively. How does your Senator fare? Click the above link.