Bush’s approval rating in the Granite State is lower than the national average.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Bush's job approval rating among residents of New Hampshire has dropped below his national approval rating while support for the Iraq war in the Granite State remains slightly above the national level, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

The CNN/WMUR poll of 524 New Hampshire residents was conducted by telephone from July 9 through Tuesday by the University of New Hampshire. The poll had a sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.

According to the poll, 24 percent of New Hampshire residents approve of the way Bush is handling his job, compared with 32 percent in the last national CNN poll, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation June 22-24. Seventy-two percent disapprove, according to the New Hampshire poll.

The president's job approval rating has been on a steady downhill slide in the state. It stood at 39 percent a year ago and 31 percent in February.

Five years ago, in June 2002, 75 percent of New Hampshire residents approved of Bush's handling of his job.

Poll respondents gave Bush his worst marks in his handling of foreign affairs (22 percent approve) and Iraq (21 percent approve), with the disapproval rating for both standing at 74 percent. He got better marks on his handling of the economy, where 34 percent approve and 58 percent disapprove.

Support for the war in Iraq has also been dropping in the state. It stands at 35 percent in the latest poll — down from 47 percent a year ago and 69 percent in June 2003, while the same national poll puts support at the war at 30 percent. Fifty-nine percent oppose the war, the New Hampshire poll said.

Slightly more than a third of those polled in New Hampshire believe U.S. troops should remain in Iraq, while 27 percent say they should come home immediately and 34 percent say they should leave by March 2008.

Fifty-seven percent say the United States cannot win the war in Iraq.

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