According to the poll, conducted through phone interviews with 1,001 Americans, 55 percent disapprove of how the president is doing his job, while 38 percent approve, an increase of three points since the May 11-12 NEWSWEEK Poll. But a majority, 55 percent, approve of Bush's handling of terrorism and homeland security (40 percent disapprove), an 11-point boost since May, returning the President to levels not seen since early 2005.
All this suggests that news of a serious terror threat boosts the president's ratings, a correlation long noted by both Democrats and Republicans, and seen most dramatically—according to both sides—in the effects on opinion polls of an Osama bin Laden videotape released days before the 2004 election.
Emphasis added.