If Congress were to vote faithfully today with public opinion on proposals to overhaul the nation's health care system, there's a chance that nobody would win, according to a poll for The Washington Post and ABC News taken Nov. 12-15.

While a 56 percent to 42 percent majority approve of the way President Obama is handling his job, 47 percent approve of his handling of the health care issue, and 49 percent disapprove, according to The Post-ABC poll.

This fits a pattern with other polls on the issue showing people evenly divided on the plans to alter the delivery and payment for health care in this country. And in polls for The Post and ABC News, public opinion last spring favored overhauling the health system, but that sentiment flipped in August with more people disapproving than approving. The two sides of this issue have been virtually tied since then.

A pair of new polls show the public's opinion of Congress is back in the cellar near where it began the year.

Despite what has happened with the economy, people seem to be in a reasonably good mood, according to an AP-GfK poll taken Oct. 1-5 in which 78 percent of the respondents said they were happy - 34 percent considering themselves "very happy" and 44 percent who say they're "somewhat happy."

And they like President Obama, whose approval rating for the way he's handling his job was 56 percent - about half of which came from people who strongly approved of his work as president.

Not so much for Congress, though, where the approval rating is 33 percent (just 3 percent saying they strongly approve), and the disapproval rating is 64 percent - more than half of whom say they strongly disapprove.

U.S. adults -- by a margin of 79 percent to 20 percent -- say they want Congress to pass a health care overhaul plan that wins support from both Democrats and Republicans, according to an Associated Press-GfK.

If the two political parties can't reach agreement, two-thirds of the people responding to the poll said they should keep negotiating until they do.

That said, adults in this country seems less than lukewarm about what they've seen proposed so far to fix the nation's system of health insurance and medical care, with 34 percent saying they support what they have seen and while 49 percent oppose the proposed plans.

Forty-seven percent of Americans say they are at least somewhat worried about losing a job, and 71 percent know a friend or relative who has lost one in the last six months, according to an Associated Press/GfK poll conducted Feb. 12-17. In February 2008, only 28 percent voiced that fear.

The percentage of Americans who describe themselves as at least somewhat worried they won't be able to pay their bills climbed from 46 percent a year ago to 65 percent. Fifty-three percent aren't confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, up from 34 percent in February 2005.

A pair of pre-Inaugural polls provide this snapshot of what Americans are thinking as the White House is about to change hands: Barack Obama will take office riding a huge wave of confidence in him and high expectations about what he will achieve, while George Bush leaves office with most believing he will go down in history as a poor or below-average president.

A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted January 9-11 also finds, not surprisingly, that Americans have set a high bar for Obama on his inauguration speech. Fifty-six percent expect it to be excellent and another 30 percent expect it to be good. Fifty-five percent had expected George Bush's inaugural to be excellent or good when he took the oath for a second term in 2005.

We posted yesterday about the Associated Press-GfK poll that found that nearly three-quarters of Americans have confidence that Barack Obama will meet the challenge of reviving the economy. Here are some more details from that poll which was conducted Nov. 6-10:

• The number of Americans who think the country is headed in the wrong direction is 56 percent, but that's a significant drop from the 78 percent who believed that in mid-October, before the election. The number of those believing the country is headed in the right direction increased from 17 percent to 36 percent.
• Nearly three-quarters of Americans describe themselves as "hopeful" as a result of the election outcome, 60 percent say they are proud and 51 percent say they are excited. Thirty-one percent are disappointed.

Seventy-two percent of Americans believe Barack Obama will bring about the changes needed to revive the economy, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll was conducted Nov. 6-10. That number included 44 percent of Republicans.

More than 80 percent said strengthening the economy and creating jobs also should be in the top tier, while 36 percent put tax cuts among the top-tier objectives.

Here are our latest updates on Senate races around the country. The big news is in Alaska where a poll taken a day after Republican Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted on corruption charges showed Democratic challenger Mark Begich opened a significant lead, and most Alaskans said Stevens should resign.

• Alaska: Begich 52, Stevens 44. (Rasmussen)
• Colorado: Udall 48, Schaffer 36. (AP/GfK)
• Iowa: Harkin 57, Reed 41. (Rasmussen)
• Minnesota: Coleman 43, Franken 39, Barkley 14. (Rasmussen)
• Mississippi: Wicker 54, Musgrove 43. (Rasmussen)
• New Hampshire: Shaheen 48, Sununu 40. (WMUR/UNH) Shaheen 47, Sununu 41, Blevens 3. (Ap/GfK)
• North Carolina: Hagan 47, Dole 43, Cole 2. (AP/GfK)
• Virginia: Warner 58, Gilmore 32. (AP/GfK)

Also, to check on our race ratings for all Senate contests, go to our Races to Watch page.

Here are today's updates in our match-ups between John McCain and Barack Obama:

• Alaska: McCain 57, Obama 41. (Rasmussen)
• Arizona: McCain 46, Obama 44. (Cronkite/Eight)
• Colorado: Obama 53, McCain 45. (CNN/Time); Obama 50, McCain 41. (AP/GfK)
• Florida: Obama 51, McCain 47. (CNN/Time); Obama 47, McCain 45. (Quinnipiac); Obama 45, McCain 43. (AP/GfK)
• Georgia: McCain 52, Obama 47. (CNN/Time)
• Indiana: McCain 47, Obama 45. (Howey/Gauge)
• Michigan: Obama 53, McCain 43. (Rasmussen)
• Minnesota: Obama 55, McCain 43. (Rasmussen)
• Missouri: McCain 50, Obama 48. (CNN/Time)
• New Hampshire: Obama 58, McCain 34. (WMUR/UNH)Obama 55, McCain 37. (AP/GfK)
• Nevada: Obama 52, McCain 40. (AP/GfK)
• North Carolina: Obama 48, McCain 46. (AP/GfK)
• Ohio: Obama 46, McCain 43. (Marist); Obama 51, McCain 42. (Quinnipiac); Obama 48, McCain 41. (AP/GfK)
• Pennsylvania: Obama 52, McCain 39. (Marist); Obama 53, McCain 41. (Quinnipiac); Obama 52, McCain 40. (AP/GfK); Obama 51, McCain 39. (Franklin & Marshall)
• Virginia: Obama 53, McCain 44. (CNN/Time); Obama 49, McCain 42. (AP/GfK)
• Washington: Obama 56, McCain 39. (SurveyUSA)

Also, check out CQ Politics Presidential election maps which give you four different ways to look at the race, including one that lets you build your own electoral scenario.

In contrast to most of the other major national surveys this week, an Associated Press-GfK poll has Barack Obama and John McCain statistically tied at 44 percent to 43 percent among likely voters. The margin of error is 3.5 percent. The poll was conducted Oct. 17-20. Obama had a 7 point lead in AP-GfK's previous poll.

(A rundown of the other polls, all of which had Obama ahead by 8 points or more, is at the bottom of this post).

The poll said "the race narrowed after the third debate as GOP-leaning voters drifted home to their party and McCain's 'Joe the plumber' analogy struck a chord." Even that contrasted with others polls that said the "Joe the Plumber" tack had not resonated with voters.