NEW YORK — President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll. Only 31% of those polled approve of Mr. Bush’s job performance and 68% believe the United States is worse off today than it was before Bush became president. Personal evaluations of Mr. Bush are the lowest they’ve ever been during his presidency. On the public’s confidence in Bush’s ability to handle a crisis, 51% had been the previous low in September 2005. That figure is now at 50%. The President’s handling of the Hurricane Katrina crisis is tied to that decrease. There is also concern that Mr. Bush is spending too much time on foreign policy issues: 55% think so. Also, on the issues that are most important to Americans, Iraq and gas prices, Bush’s ratings have dropped. On handling the issue of rising gas prices, Bush’s performance rating dropped four percentage points from what it was a month ago (from 17% to 13%). With the Iraq war, Bush’s approval rating dropped one percentage […]