Time poll: Bush approval rating at 53%

The latest Time poll out today has Bush over Kerry by five points, 51% to 46%. This is a 4 point swing from last week's Time poll that had Bush at 48% and Kerry at 47%. I don't count on any of these polls to be an accurate portrayal of what we'll see on election night, but it heartening to know that Bush seems to have the momentum heading into the final days of this race. Time reports:

President Bush has opened a 5 point lead against Senator John Kerry, according the latest TIME poll. If the 2004 election for President were held today, 51% of likely voters surveyed would vote for President George W. Bush, 46% would vote for Senator John Kerry, and 2% would vote for Ralph Nader, according to the TIME poll conducted by telephone from Oct. 19 – 21. Among all registered voters surveyed, Bush leads Kerry 50% to 43%.

Last week’s TIME poll found 48% of likely voters would vote for Bush, 47% would vote for Kerry, and 3% would vote for Nader. That poll was conducted Oct. 14-15 and included 865 likely voters.

While these numbers by themselves would have any Bush fan resting easy over the weekend, his approval rating should be cause for even greater excitement. Bush is at 53%, a 4 point jump from lasts week's Time poll that had him at 49%. This is the number I am much more concerned with.

Bush’s approval rating has risen to 53%, with 44% saying they disapprove of how he is handling his job. That is a four-point improvement over just last week, when Bush’s negatives were even with his positives. In last week’s TIME poll, the President’s approval rating was at 49% approving and 49% disapproving of the way he was handling his job.

Bush has had a steady lead in the polls over his opponent, but his own approval rating has been floating in the high-forties on average. Bush needs to get that mean score up over 50% - the "majic number" - which this Time poll did for him. Real Clear Politics, which uses a weighted average of all polls in each polling cycle, has Bush's average job approval over 50%.