Economy, Health Care Sends Obama to New Lows in Approval Ratings

A double punch of persistent economic discontent and growing skepticism on health care reform has knocked Barack Obama's key approval ratings to new lows, clouding his administration's prospects at least until the jobless rate eases.

U.S. President Barack Obama listens during his meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of...

U.S. President Barack Obama listens during his meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington December 7, 2009. A double punch of persistent economic discontent and growing skepticism on health care reform has knocked Barack Obama's key approval ratings to new lows, clouding his administration's prospects at least until the jobless rate eases.

(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Fifty percent of Americans in this ABC News/Washington Post poll approve of the president's work overall, down 6 points in the last month; nearly as many, 46 percent, now disapprove. On the economy, 52 percent disapprove, a majority for the first time. On the deficit, his worst score, 56 percent disapprove.
Click here for a PDF with charts and questionnaire.
Such numbers aren't unexpected; Ronald Reagan, in similar economic straits, dropped to 52 percent overall approval at this point in his presidency. But it's not just the economy: Fifty-three percent also disapprove of Obama's work on health care, and the public by 51-44 percent now opposes the reform package in Congress – both more than half for the first time in ABC/Post polls.