President Bush's failed last-ditch effort in Virginia to save the Republican gubernatorial candidacy of Jerry Kilgore wasn't lost on some Republican House members who'll face the voters next year.

Nearly two weeks later, Bush's poll numbers are at another new low among voters anxious over the Iraq war, energy costs and soaring budget deficits.

With the GOP's slender U.S. House majority on the line next year, some incumbents are beginning to see linkage to the president as a liability to their political futures.

Rep. J.D. Hayworth, the 1981-86 WYFF-TV sportscaster who won a House seat in a conservative Arizona district in 1994, is bailing out.

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Asked 10 days back on the Don Imus radio talk show whether he'd welcome Bush at his side in next year's campaign, Hayworth said, when pinned down after some hemming and hawing:

"In a word, no. Not at this time." Distancing game

Hours later, Hayworth's office put out a statement saying the congressman would "do all I can to help the president turn things around" by Nov. 7, 2006.

Hayworth said his comment to Imus was "just a realistic assessment of where the president is politically at this time."

No "y'all come" in that.

Last week, Connecticut's Republican governor, Jodi Rell, declared there was no need for Bush to campaign with her. Granted, Bush is hardly a good fit with moderate New England Republicans, who are liberals compared to their Southern brethren.

Still, is there a trend here?

The University of Virginia's Larry Sabato writes in his current Internet newsletter that "President Bush and the Republicans are in deep trouble in 2005."

Not necessarily in South Carolina, although there is some caution out there.

This state's Republican congressmen, perhaps among the safest of the safe, say they'd welcome Bush next year.

But South Carolina may not be the "Bush country" it has been since the current president's father swept the state in 1988.

While Sabato says there's no certainty that the GOP's Nov. 8 "calamities" in Virginia and New Jersey will carry over into 2006, there is equally no reason they won't be "spot on" predictors. Sliding numbers

PollingReport.com lists 10 national polls showing generic Republicans running from minus 5 points to minus 12 points in respondents' preferences in 2006 congressional elections. The CNN-USA Today poll has a 37-52 GOP deficit.

Those same 10 polls, conducted Oct. 30-Nov. 13, show Bush's approval ratings ranging from 36 percent to 45 percent and disapproval running from 47 percent to 60 percent.

Survey USA's September South Carolina poll showed a 47-51 approval-disapproval rating, but a month later, those numbers had plunged to 40-58.

Other Republicans fared better. Gov. Mark Sanford was 49-43, Sen. Lindsey Graham, 58-32, and Sen. Jim DeMint, 47-41.

These are definitely not good times for the president.

But if a few are bailing out elsewhere, South Carolina's welcome mat remains in place.

Republicans who might most be affected by public disapproval of the administration are standing pat. State standing firm

Katon Dawson, the state GOP chairman, never misses an opportunity to defend the president and reaffirm the state party's loyalty.

Ditto the U.S. House delegation, whose members will face voters in 50 weeks.

Rep. Bob Inglis of Greenville, ensconced again in the 4th District, says he would welcome Bush, but has a cautionary note.

"The president has suffered some real declines in his polling numbers, and that shows how fleeting poll approval is," Inglis said, pointing out that Bush has gone from off the charts on the positive side after 9-11 to among the lowest ever for a sitting president.

Rep. Gresham Barrett of Westminster has "not lost confidence in my president."

"Look at what he's had to deal with -- the recession, 9-11, the war on terror, Katrina and now he's dealing with the deficit, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid -- none of these things he'd been directly involved in, but unfortunately, the bill's coming due," Barrett said.

"When the president's numbers get bad in places like South Carolina, then he does have a major problem, but so far I haven't seen that," Barrett said.

Rep. Joe Wilson of Lexington is even more effusive. 'Come now!'

"I hope he can come here right away, and I hope he comes next year, and I'm confident we will be having him campaign in South Carolina next year," Wilson said.

Rep. Henry Brown of Charleston couldn't be reached for comment, but has been a strong Bush ally.

Democrats, perhaps sensing a rare wedge issue that might play for them, see a potential opening in Bush's travails, even in South Carolina.

"Voters are not going to react well to Republican incumbents who don't show separation from the administration," said Lachlan McIntosh, executive director of the state Democratic Party. "For the first time in a while, congressional Republicans are going to have to stand on their own two feet." Bottomed out?

For Dave Woodard, a Clemson University political scientist and GOP consultant-pollster, Bush bottomed out two weeks ago "when (White House strategist) Karl Rove wasn't indicted" by a federal grand jury probing a leak of CIA operative's name.

The U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Joseph Alito, an apparent strict constructionist, helped stem the slide by bringing back disaffected conservatives, Woodard said.

"Just because Republicans are distancing themselves from him now doesn't mean they might not change their minds next fall. Of course, it could stay bad, but I don't see this as being as bad as Iran-Contra and impeachment ... both of which afflicted previous presidents," Woodard said.