美國11月大選一步之遙,支持率愈加成為媒體的熱點詞語。依據最新民意調查,在伊拉克戰爭、道德規范和領導能力等方面,民主黨的支持率均超越布什總統所在的共和黨。同時,布什和由共和黨控制的國會的支持率跌跌不休。
請看外電有關報道：President George W. Bush and Republicans are sinking under the weight of the Iraq war and the Capitol Hill sex scandal, according to a flurry of polls, endangering their control of Congress in the November 7 elections.

The latest polls give Democratic candidates a growing edge of between 13 and 23 percentage points over Republicans on the November ballot1, with Bush's approval ratings dropping back into the 30s.

支持率相應的英文表達是approval ratings,rating在這里指評估、評價,和approval 連用時常做復數,如：The Gallup poll gave the Senator an 83 per cent approval ratings.（蓋洛普民意測驗結果表明這位參議院擁有83%的支持率。）

除此之外,rating可作等級級別（尤指軍階）、收視率,如：a ship with a rating of 200000 tons（20萬噸級的船舶）；good ratings（收視率非常不錯）。