NEW YORK, Jan 18: President George W. Bush's approval rating has dipped to 50 percent, and the US electorate is evenly split heading into the 2004 presidential election year, a new poll has found.

Given a choice between Bush and an unnamed Democratic candidate, 43 percent would vote for Bush and 45 percent would vote for the Democrat, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll published on Sunday.

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean was the top choice for Democratic Party presidential nominee, with 24 percent support, versus 12 percent for retired general Wesley Clark, 11 percent for Representative Dick Gephardt and seven percent for John Kerry. Sixty-four percent said, however, it was too early to say for sure about the Democratic nominee.-AFP