More Election News

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• WV: Senate Ballot Grows for Dems
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• CT: Simmons Reminds Voters He's Still on the Ballot
• NJ-3: Runyan Qualifies for More National GOP Aid
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President Obama's approval rating has reached a new low according to a national Quinnipiac survey released this morning. The poll finds that just 44 percent of registered voters approve of the job he's done as president, and 48 percent disapprove. Two months ago, 48 percent approved and 43 percent did not.

Obama now barely has a positive approval rating in the RCP Average of recent national polls.

On the issues: 56 percent of voters disapprove of his handling of the economy; by a 46-43 percent margin, voters disapprove of his handling of foreign policy; 51 percent disapprove of his handling of the Gulf oil spill; and 58 percent disapprove of his handling of illegal immigration, including 60 percent who said the federal government's lawsuit against Arizona was a bad idea.

"Today, his support among Democrats remains strong, but the disillusionment among independent voters, who dropped from 52 – 37 percent approval to 52 – 38 percent disapproval in the last 12 months, is what leads to his weakness overall when voters start thinking about 2012,” said Quinnipiac assistant director Peter A. Brown.

Just 36 percent of voters said they'd vote for Obama over an unnamed Republican candidate in 2012, compared with 39 percent who would vote for the Republican. By a 48-40 percent margin, voters say Obama does not deserve re-election. Independents not only now disapprove of Obama, but also say by a 37-27 percent margin that they would choose a Republican over Obama in 2012.

"In politics a month is a lifetime and we have 28 months until November of 2012," said Brown. "But politicians with re-elect numbers at 40 percent bear watching."

These numbers have ramifications not just in two years, but also this year when Democrats are fighting to hold onto control of the House -- and perhaps the Senate. The survey found Republicans leading the generic ballot by a 5-point margin, 43-38 percent.

Because the GOP often has a 5-point advantage in turnout, a 5-point lead in the generic ballot test among registered voters looks even worse for Democrats. A year ago, Democrats led by 8 points.

The survey of 2,181 registerd voters was conducted July 13 – 19 with a margin of error of +/- 2.1 percentage points.