Some interesting stuff in the new Gallup poll:

First off, it has now been more than a year since George W. Bush’s job approval rating was above 40 percent in the Gallup poll. Bush is at 32 percent approval, 64 percent disapproval in the new survey; the last time Bush was above 40 percent was in a poll taken in mid-September 2006.

Second, Rudy Giuliani’s favorable rating has dipped below 50 percent for the first time ever. He is at 49 percent favorable, 39 percent unfavorable in the new poll. That’s a significant drop from a few weeks ago, when he was at 54 percent favorable, 30 percent unfavorable. In August, he was at 59 percent favorable, 27 percent unfavorable.

Fred Thompson has still not made an impression on a significant part of the voting public. In the new poll, he is at 32 percent favorable, 30 percent unfavorable – that unfavorable number is up six points since early this month – with 23 percent saying they’ve never heard of him and 15 percent saying they have no opinion.

Mitt Romney’s unfavorable rating still outweighs his favorable rating. He is at 26 percent favorable, 34 percent unfavorable in the new survey. And John McCain is steady at 46 favorable, 37 unfavorable, somewhat recovered from his summer swoon.

Hillary Clinton’s favorable rating has been slowly ticking up and is now the equal of Barack Obama’s. She is at 53 percent favorable, 44 percent unfavorable in the new poll. Beginning in August, her favorable ratings have gone from 47 to 49 to 51 to 53, while her unfavorables have gone from 48 to 46 to 44.

Obama still has significantly lower unfavorables than Clinton, with 53 percent favorable, 32 percent unfavorable.