by Mark Silva
As President Barack Obama's campaign-styled push for healthcare reform continues, a new poll today shows that, for the first time, public support for his handling of the issue has slipped below 50 percent.
The president's overall job-approval remains well above 50 percent in the Washington Post/ABC News survey. However, that measure as well -- 59 percent -- has slipped below 60 percent for the first time in Post/ABC polling.
Other polls, notably the Gallup Poll, also have found the president's approval slipping into the high 50s.
But, at this juncture in the push for healthcare reform on Capitol Hill, it is the president's handling of healthcare that is making headlines this morning in Washington:
Just 49 percent surveyed by the Post and ABC said they approve of the way Obama is handling healthcare. That is down from 53 percent in June and 57 percent in April.
The share of people voicing disapproval for the president's handling of the issue has risen from 29 percent in April to 44 percent in the newest, July survey.
The slide in support for the president's handling of healthcare mirrors a loss of support on other domestic issues as well, "such as the economy and the federal budget deficit,'' the Post noes, "as rising concern about spending and continuing worries about the economy combine to challenge his administration.''
Just more than half approve of the way the president is handling unemployment, which has climbed to 9.5 percent nationall and exceeded 10 percent in 15 states.
Obama, who stepped up his call for Congress to act on healthcare reform last week, will meet with healthcare providers at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington today and deliver a statement on the issue at about 1 pm EDT.
The poll was conducted last week, from July 15-18. The survey of 1,001 adults carries a possible margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
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