POSTED: 6:32 p.m. EDT September 19, 2002
UPDATED: 6:36 p.m. EDT September 19, 2002

WASHINGTON -- For months, President George W. Bush's public support has been declining.

But now, a Pew Research Center for People and the Press poll indicates the president's job approval has come back to as high as 70 percent or more -- after slipping to the low 60s a few weeks ago.

The polls were conducted at about the time of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and as Bush talked of working with Congress and the United Nations on Iraq.

More than half of the poll's respondents say Bush has clearly explained what's at stake in Iraq. About 37 percent felt that way in an earlier poll.

The poll found that seven out of 10 people who were surveyed felt that Bush did a good or excellent job in his speech on the anniversary of Sept. 11. A slightly smaller number felt that way about his speech in Iraq to the United Nations.

The poll gives Bush an overall approval rating of 67 percent -- up seven points since late August.

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