With

No, it just means 'at this time when his approval ratings are in the low 30s'.

Nona

Hi,

Your interpretation is right.

With / Because of the situation exists, Bush offered little new.

Got it! Thanks, HT.

Anonymous
No, it just means 'at this time when his approval ratings are in the low 30s'.

Nona

Thanks, Nona. To just make it clear, if it's With his approval ratings remaining to be in the low 30s, could the meaning change to what HT and I say?

Another question is: You said as quoted above is just because

Hi LiJ,

"remaining to be" isn't very grammatical.

I agree with Nona - it simply describes the circumstances that are in place at the time.

Hi Barbara,

I thought of that too. But before I replied to LiJ, I checked with Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Language and found the following definition more suitable:

"because of a situation that exists:
With John away there's more room in the house."

LiveinjapanAnother question is: You said as quoted above is just because with clause doesn't work as the reason in this context but with cluase could work as the reason in some context?

Thanks, GG and HT.

GG, so you mean the original sentence doesn't have a cause-and-effect structure, don't you?

I guess on re-reading this, it makes sense to read it that way. It could be causal (because) or it could simply be describing the surrounding circumstances.

Many thanks, GG.

Got it!

With his approval ratings in the low 30s, an opposition-led Congress, and his presidency overshadowed by the race for his successor, Bush offered little new.

with can indicate because of, but I don't sense that meaning in this particular sentence. If my ratings were low, I wouldn't 'offer little new', and thus risk the ratings decreasing even more