Republicans have significantly narrowed the gap with Democrats on who is trusted to deal with the country's problems and have sharply reduced several of President Obama's main political advantages, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The survey paints a portrait of a restless and dissatisfied electorate at the beginning of a critical election year. More than seven in 10 Americans disapprove of the job that Congress is doing, and as many say they are inclined to look for new congressional representation as said so in 1994 and 2006, the last times that control of Congress shifted.
Asked how they would vote in the November House elections, Americans split evenly -- 46 percent siding with the Democrats, 46 percent with the Republicans. As recently as four months ago, Democrats held a 51 percent to 39 percent advantage.
Obama's overall approval rating is holding steady, with 51 percent of respondents giving him positive marks and 46 percent rating him negatively. On the big domestic issues -- the economy, health care, jobs and the federal budget deficit -- bare majorities of Americans disapprove of the job he is doing.
Only on fighting terrorism does Obama receive majority support for his performance, with 56 percent saying they approve. But the poll shows majority opposition to the administration's plan to try terrorism suspects in federal courts.
Changes in public attitudes were most apparent when Americans were asked whether they trust Obama or congressional Republicans to handle these issues. Last summer, the president enjoyed advantages of more than 20 points over the GOP on the handling of health care, the economy, the deficit and the threat of terrorism. Those leads have all slipped, reflecting both the partisan polarization that has colored the political landscape for many months and the sharp erosion in support for Obama among independents.
But there is about as much time between now and November as has elapsed since Obama held his June advantages. He and his allies have started a new political offensive, trying to rebound from the party's loss of the Massachusetts Senate seat long held by the late Edward Kennedy and to salvage their effort to enact a comprehensive health-care overhaul.
Obama has begun to try to appeal to voters who see Washington as broken by stressing his commitment to bipartisanship, while aggressively trying to rebut Republican criticisms of his policies. At the same time, he has sought to refocus his energy on the economy and job creation, which remains the public's top priority.
When compared with the early months of Obama's presidency, the GOP's overall gains are striking. A year ago, Democrats held a 26-point advantage on dealing with the big issues; that lead is now six points. At the one-month mark, Obama's lead over the GOP on dealing with the economy was 35 points; it's now five points.
The findings illustrate why the political landscape looks increasingly favorable for Republicans to pick up House and Senate seats in November, with some handicappers predicting major gains of 25 to 30 seats and Republican House leaders expressing confidence that they can win the 40 seats they need to take back the majority. Obama's political advisers say privately that some losses are likely but that they are looking to keep them to a minimum.
This poll was conducted by conventional and cellular telephone Feb. 4 to 8 among a random sample of 1,004 adults. The margin of sampling error for the full poll is plus or minus three percentage points.
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