WASHINGTON, March 9: Public support for US President George W. Bush has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency for his performance on the economy and the situation in Iraq , says a new Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Tuesday.

The survey reveals that the majority of Americans- 57 per cent- want their next president to steer the country away from the course set by Mr Bush. The president's standing hit new lows in crucial areas such as the economy (39 per cent support him), Iraq (46 per cent) and the budget deficit (30 per cent).

Mr Bush's overall support, 50 per cent, was unchanged from February and equal to the lowest of his presidency; only the war on terrorism continues to garner him the support of more than six in 10 Americans.

The poll shows that Mr Bush narrowly trails Democratic presidential nominee John F Kerry by 4 percentage points, 48 to 44 per cent, among registered voters in a hypothetical presidential matchup.

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, an independent presidential candidate, claims three per cent. Of a dozen policy areas, Mr Kerry leads Mr Bush in eight, including the economy, education and health care, while Mr Bush leads only in the war on terrorism. The two candidates are virtually tied in the other three: Iraq, same-sex marriage and civil liberties.

In a bit of good news for President Bush, Mr Nader is drawing essentially all of his support from Mr Kerry, who leads Mr Bush by 9 percentage points in a two-way matchup with the president. This indicates that Nader could once again play the spoiler for Democrats in 2004 as he did four years ago.