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.

More people think their health care will get worse than believe it will improve if health insurance overhaul proposed by Democrats becomes law, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted Sept. 10-12.

This tepid public sentiment is similar to polling data from 1993 and 1994 when the Clinton administration was proposing comparable changes in the U.S. health care system.

Sixteen percent of the respondents to the most recent poll say their health care would improve if the proposed changes are enacted, and 32 percent say their health care will be worse if that happens.

By comparison, the same poll in late September of 1993 found 19 percent saying their health care would improve and 31 percent saying it would get worse.

Republicans are viewed as obstructionists who are not making a good faith effort to cooperate with Democrats in the health care debate, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted Sept. 10-12.

The same poll found that half the respondents thought Democrats were making an honest effort to cooperate with Republicans on health care. Sixty-two percent of the respondents said the Republicans were not negotiating in good faith.

But if there is any political blowback from this, it's hard to find. People were evenly divided on whether they would vote for (22 percent) or against (23 percent) a congressional candidate who supports the Democrats' health overhaul plan, with 54 percent saying it would make no difference to them. Forty-nine percent said they think the two parties are equally to blame for the tone of the debate.

As he struggles to pull off an overhaul of the nation’s health care system and right the economy, the news is bad and could get worse for President Obama, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll showing that confidence in his leadership has dropped significantly since April.

The Post-ABC telephone survey of 1,001 adults nationwide found that only 49 percent of Americans now believe Obama can make the right decisions for the country, compared to 60 percent at the 100-day mark of his administration back in April.

At the same time, confidence in his ability to make changes for the better has dropped from 69 percent at the start of his presidency to 49 percent today, an indication that the intense opposition to health care reform is beginning to take its toll on Obama’s efforts.

Overall, however, Obama still has a 57 percent job approval rating in the survey conducted Aug. 13-17, even though it found that 55 percent of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track — a change from 48 percent in April when Obama’s job approval stood at 69 percent.

Vice President Joe Biden has the approval of a majority of the public according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll.

While Biden's above-the-midpoint score is far greater than Vice President Dick Cheney's approval ratings at the end of the Bush administration, it's not too far from where Cheney ranked early in Bush's first term.

Biden's approval/disapproval score is 55 percent to 33 percent, with 12 percent undecided. The poles of the poll, those who strongly approve or strongly disapprove of Biden are nearly even, with 20 percent choosing the former and 21 percent the latter. Where Biden wins is in the middle: 36 percent say they somewhat approve of the way he is handling his job while only 12 percent say they somewhat disapprove.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee leads the pack of potential GOP presidential contenders for 2012, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll of self-identified Republicans and Republican-leaners conducted July 15-18. The margin of error is 3 points.

He is followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 21 percent, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at 19 percent and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 10 percent. Everyone else polls less than "no opinion" which got 6 percent, including Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, about him there has been speculation as a contender for 2012. He got 1 percent.

President Obama's approval ratings have declined some more, both overall and on his front-burner issues, according to an ABC News-Washington Post poll conducted July 15-18. The margin of error is 3 points.

Obama's overall approval rating has declined by 6 percentage points in the last month, but even with that loss, it still stands at 59 percent, while 37 percent say they disapprove.

On health care, Obama's approval rating has dropped 8 percentage points, from 57 percent to 49 percent, since April as legislation to overhaul the nation's health insurance system began taking shape, The Post reported. At the same time, overall disapproval of his handling of health care has risen to 44 percent from 29 percent. Among independents, 49 percent disapprove of his plans to alter the health care system, while 44 percent approve.

An overwhelming majority of Americans are concerned the efforts to overhaul the current health care system will reduce the quality of care they receive, reduce coverage, increase costs, limit choice of doctors and inject an unwelcome dose of more government bureaucracy, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted June 18-21.

At the same time, a clear majority - 58 percent to 39 percent - say action by government is necessary to control costs and extend coverage. Americans are dissatisfied with the overall health system by 57 percent to 43 percent. President Obama's proposal to create a public plan to compete with private insurers is supported by 62 percent to 33 percent, although 41 percent would want that plan to be run by an independent organization compared to 21 percent who favor it being a government agency.

President Obama enjoys a job approval rating of 65 percent, slightly lower than in the three previous months, but his approval levels when it comes to his handling of specific issues - while nearly all positive - are lower than his personal marks, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted June 18-21. These findings generally track with several major polls released last week.

Obama's approval falls below 50 percent on the issue of the federal deficit, and 87 percent say they are concerned about its size. Fifty-six percent of those described themselves as very concerned. And his margin over congressional Republicans in terms of whom the public trusts more on the economy, while still large, fell 13 points since April.

While yet another poll shows that President Obama enjoys strong public approval for the way he has done his job in the first 100 days, his most recent action - ordering the release of previously secret Bush administration records about interrogation of terrorism suspects - draws far less support.

The new survey also revealed divisions on the use of torture and whether there should be an investigation into Bush administration policies.

Sixty-nine percent of the public approves of Obama's job performance compared to 26 percent who do not, a net gain of five points since March, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted April 21-24.