Obama's Poll Numbers Slipping

Is the honeymoon over for President Obama?

In a Washington Post poll, the president's approval rating on health-care reform has slipped below 50 percent. This comes at a time when debate on the issue is heating up among supporters of Obama's plan, resistant Republicans and some conservative Democrats.

While President Obama's overall approval number is at 59 percent, that's six percentage points lower than his Post-ABC poll numbers from one month ago.

Despite some criticism that Obama has been trying to do too much, the public says he is right to continue pressing on a variety of issues, from the economy to health care to the deficit. But the poll also shows the public's impatience with how administration's policies are progressing.

Fears over the cost of the health-care bill and its affect on the federal deficit are catching on, particularly among political independents, whose support on the issue and on Obama's handling of the economy has dropped.

The Post reports divides along party and income lines about a plan that would create a health-care public option: "Three-quarters of Democrats back the plan, as do nearly six in 10 independents. More than three-quarters of Republicans are opposed. About two-thirds of those with household incomes below $50,000 favor the plan, and a slim majority (52 percent) of those with higher incomes are against it. The income divide is even starker among independents."

During Sunday appearances on television news shows, the administration's budget director, Peter Orszag, wavered on whether the health-care reform bill would be delivered to the president before the August recess. He dismissed any conflict as part of the normal legislative process.

On "Meet the Press," Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius called the health-care proposal a "work in progress," and urged the public to wait for the final bill.

Doubts about health-care reform have triggered a slip in confidence in Obama's handling of the federal deficit. The poll reports that more than six in 10 oppose spending beyond the $787 billion federal stimulus, with Democrats supporting more spending and Republicans and independents disapproving.

If there is good news for Obama in the new poll numbers, it's that the public ranks him well above Republicans in Congress on the economy and the deficit.