WASHINGTON, Oct 18: With the president’s job approval at its lowest ever, the White House said on Tuesday George W. Bush was not driven by public opinion polls and dismissed them as ‘something Washington gets caught up in’.

Bush’s job approval rating fell to an all-time low of 39 per cent in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll published on Monday in the wake of the government’s sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina, high gas prices, continued fighting in Iraq and controversy over his nomination of White House lawyer Harriet Miers to the US Supreme Court.

“The president’s focused on moving forward on our agenda,” spokesman Scott McClellan said. “He doesn’t get caught up in the weekly poll numbers.”

The numbers have steadily declined in all polls — at least one put Bush’s job approval at 37 per cent — since he was sworn in for a second term in January.

“When you are a leader you can’t be driven by polls,” McClellan said.

Bush was working on making sure the United States succeeded in Iraq so American troops could come home, addressing high gas prices, creating jobs, and winning the war on terror, McClellan said.—Reuters