Obama's Approval Rating Falls in Iowa Where He Got His First Big Boost

Barack Obama's path to the presidency got its first big boost when he upset Hillary Clinton in the January 2008 Iowa caucus, riding his message of change, but now fewer than half of Iowans approve of his performance in office, according to a Des Moines Register poll conducted Nov. 8-11.

Obama's approval rating fell from 53 percent in September among Iowans to 49 percent in the latest survey.

Iowa's poll tracks with recent national polls that have Obama following below the 50 percent benchmark.

Fifty-five percent of Iowans disapprove of how Obama is handling health care, up from not quite half in September

Nearly two-thirds of likely voters in Iowa disapprove of Obama's budget policies when it comes to the burgeoning size of the deficit.

The newspaper's poll said "Obama has lost the approval of a healthy percentage of Iowans in his handling of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan." Thirty-eight percent approve of his handling of those conflicts compared to a majority in September.

Obama beat Clinton in the caucuses, winning 38 percent of the delegates to Clinton's 29. 5 percent. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards also edged Clinton, drawing 29.8 percent. Obama carried the state in the general election with 54 percent of the vote.