Ideology and popularity

Adam Isacson links to a report by a Mexican polling firm, which discusses the approval ratings of presidents across the region. It's been a rough year, as on average approval has dropped 10 points. Here is the list:

1. 84% Álvaro Uribe, Colombia (3/08)
2. 61% Felipe Calderón, Mexico (5/08)
3. 55% Antonio Saca, El Salvador (5/08)
4. 55% Evo Morales, Bolivia (5/08)
5. 55% Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil (3/08)
6. 54% Hugo Chávez, Venezuela (4/08)
7. 53% Rafael Correa, Ecuador (6/08)
8. 51% Martín Torrijos, Panama (4/08)
9. 49% Álvaro Colom, Guatemala (3/08)
10. 45% Tabaré Vázquez, Uruguay (3/08)
11. 44% Oscar Arias, Costa Rica (4/08)
12. 44% Michelle Bachelet, Chile (6/08)
13. 38% Manuel Zelaya, Honduras (2/08)
14. 34% Stephen Harper, Canada (3/08)
15. 32% Alan García, Peru (6/08)
16. 30% George W. Bush, United States (6/08)
17. 26% Cristina Fernández, Argentina (5/08)
18. 21% Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua (2/08)
19. 5% Nicanor Duarte, Paraguay (3/08)

Despite all the elections of left-leaning presidents, the top three are actually conservative. Nonetheless, a majority (5 of 8) of those over 50% are on the left. Further, of the bottom three, two are on the left. It seems, then, that there is currently no clear link between ideology and popularity.