Early Xmas present: Today’s PollTrack from National Journal detects a sharp rise in the Worst President Ever’s approval rating. Note: nobody asked us.

After months of headlines about sinking numbers, President Bush might have something to smile about. A new CBS News/New York Times poll reports a 5-point jump in his approval rating — and it’s not the only one.

Bush’s number climbed from 35% in a CBS News poll from about a month ago to 40% in the current survey; his disapproval fell from 57% to 53%.

A few other surveys in recent weeks have recorded similar changes. A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics survey from late November put the rating at 42/48, compared to 36/53 earlier in the month. Polls released within the last week from Quinnipiac University and Time/SRBI don’t have comparison numbers from November, but both show his approval at or above the 40% mark.

CBS/Times pollsters also recorded gains in approval of the president’s handling of Iraq and the economy; numbers were statistically even on his handling of the war on terrorism and foreign policy. The poll’s right-direction indicator rose as well, gaining 4 points to hit 31%. Six in 10 still said the country is on the wrong track, down from 68% in the previous survey.

The good cheer didn’t extend to everyone on Capitol Hill. Just 33% said they approved of the way Congress is handling its job, down 1 point since the last poll; 53% said they disapproved.

Nearly a quarter (24%) of respondents said the country would be better off if Congress were controlled by Democrats, 5 points higher than the number who thought the GOP would do a better job. (49% said it wouldn’t make a difference which party was in control.) 12% of respondents said a candidate’s position on the Iraq war would be the most important single issue in the next election; 71% said a hopeful’s position was one of several important issues.

Worries about the conflict persisted, with 61% saying the administration hasn’t yet clearly explained U.S. goals for Iraq. More than eight in 10 said he hasn’t clearly explained how long U.S. forces will have to stay in the country, and 68% said Bush hasn’t yet developed a “clear plan for victory in Iraq.”

58% said they wanted to see a timetable for withdrawing troops — a strategy the Bush administration opposes, CBS’ analysis notes, adding that “Americans remain firm in their desire for U.S. troops to at least start coming home.”

But some of the Iraq numbers improved. Although a majority of respondents (52%) still said the war was going badly, that number is down from the previous survey’s 57%. 46% of respondents said they thought the war was going very or somewhat well, up 6 points. A majority also predicted the country would eventually become a democracy; 47% said it would never happen.