Poll Tracker

On handling the economy, his numbers have essentially reversed since last month when 52 percent approved of the job he was doing and 40 percent disapproved. Now, 53 percent disapprove of Obama's performance on the economy while 38 percent give him positive marks.

Forty-three percent disapprove of Obama's handling of health care compared to 42 percent who approve. The last Pew figures to provide a basis for comparison were in April when Obama had an approval-to-disapproval ratio of 51 percent to 26 percent. Americans don't like his handling of the budget deficit by a 53 percent to 32 percent margin, in contrast to April when he had a positive ratio of 50 percent to 38 percent.

Pew attributes the fall-off in support for Obama to three factors: "Criticisms of the government's economic policies are mounting...Many of the health care proposals being debated in Congress are sparking negative reactions, especially from those following the debate most closely...Obama's comments on the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. appear to have played some role in his ratings decline."

The public disapproves government's handling of economic by 48 percent to 46 percent, compared to 53 percent approval to 39 percent disapproval in May.

Forty-four percent generally oppose the health care proposals currently before Congress compared to 38 percent who support them. Eighteen percent "don't know." That result roughly mirrors how self-described independents feel about the issue. Democrats support the health care proposals by 61 percent to 29 percent while Republicans oppose them 76 percent to 12 percent.

Pew conducted a small re-contact survey on Monday that found a negative reaction to Obama's handling of the controversy over the arrest, at his house, of African-American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. in Cambridge by a police officer responding to a report of a possible break-in.

Obama initially reacted by saying "the Cambridge police acted stupidly," and while he subsequently said his remarks were unfortunate because they had ratcheted up the racial controversy over the incident, Pew found that 41 percent disapproved of his handling of the matter compared to 29 percent who approved and 30 percent who were undecided. The poll also found that 27 percent said Gates was more at fault, 25 percent blamed the police officer, 10 percent said both equally were at fault, and 36 percent said they didn't know.

The possible silver lining in Pew's latest findings are that while Americans have grown more critical of Obama they retain optimism that his policies will improve the economy. Sixty-three percent expressed that optimism compared to 28 percent who didn't share it, about the same figures that a June survey produced.