Finally

When Bush's approval rating was in the low 50 percentile, members of the Mainstream Media did not hesitate to refer to Bush as a "popular" president, even though the term "polarizing president" would have been more appropriate. I was just talking with some folks over the weekend about how members of the Media never call Bush an "unpopular president" now that his approval rating has been hovering around 40% for quite a while.

Well, the times they are a-changin'. Bill Schneider from CNN said this on Saturday (via Atrios):

This could be a big change and it could well be that these new leaders could include some who are not particularly loyal to the White House and the White House agenda with an unpopular president. They have to face re-election this year. You could find a Republican majority that's going to try to seek its own way and not simply follow the White House.