Public Sour on Congress, Obama's Handling of Issues, Country's Direction

A pair of new polls today paint this picture of the public's mood: They give negative marks to both President Obama and Congress, they're closely divided on whether they want Congress to be Republican or Democrat next year, and they're still unhappy with the direction the country is going and feeling angry and anxious.

Starting with Obama: A Washington Post/ABC News conducted Dec. 10-13 has his overall job approval rating at a positive 50 percent to 46 percent ratio, but that's down from the 56 percent to 42 percent he enjoyed in mid-November. (For the numbers that don't add up to 100 percent, the balance of those polled were undecided).

When it comes to his handling of specific issues, 52 percent disapprove of his handling of the economy compared to 46 percent who approve, which is a turnaround from mid-November, when 51 percent approved and 47 percent disapproved. They disapprove of his handling of health care by 53 percent to 44 percent; of the deficit by 56 percent to 37 percent; and unemployment by 48 percent to 47 percent. His big positive is his handling of Afghanistan, with Americans approving by a 52-44 margin compared to a 48-45 disapproval ratio last month, before he laid out his new Afghan strategy.

A George Washington University Battleground poll conducted Dec. 6-9 had 50 percent approving of Obama's performance compared to 45 percent who disapproved. Independents were split when those who approve or disapprove "somewhat" or "strongly" are lumped together, but 44 percent of independents are in the disapprove "strongly" category.

The GWU poll finds Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing by 68 percent to 24 percent. Asked the generic question of which party's congressional candidate they would vote for if the 2010 elections were held today, 42 percent chose the Republicans and 40 percent the Democrats, with 18 percent undecided. Last month, the Democrats led, 43 percent to 40 percent. This was the first time in the GWU surveys since 2002 that the Republicans were in the lead.

A recent Gallup poll had the Democrats up by 48 percent to 45 percent after trailing in its last survey, and Public Policy Polling had the Democrats leading, 44 percent to 42 percent.

Republicans and independents have a higher intensity level than the Democrats -- measured by those who say they are extremely likely to vote -- going into next year's elections, Seventy-seven percent of Republicans and independents say they are extremely likely to vote, compared to 64 percent of Democrats. The numbers are even lower for other groups that were energized by Obama's 2008 campaign, with 65 percent of Hispanics saying they were extremely likely to vote and 58 percent of blacks putting themselves in that category.

One other measure in the GWU poll on which the Republicans had some good news is the economy. In July, Americans said they thought the Democrats would better handle the issue by 47 percent to 33 percent, but that margin is now down to 44 percent to 40 percent.

Fifty-six percent of those polled believe the country is on the wrong track compared to 34 percent who feel it is on the right track. In July, that ratio was 51 percent choosing the wrong track to 38 percent saying the right track. Forty-two percent say they felt hopeful or optimistic about the way things are going in the country, while 51 percent picked one of the following: angry, depressed, anxious or pessimistic. ("Angry" was the top pick among these at 20 percent.)