BY Michael Mcauliff
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON-The public's confidence in President Obama is slipping, ABC News and the Washington Post find in a new poll out Monday.
Obama's approval is still a robust 59%, but people's belief that he will improve the economy is down from 72% to 56%, and his overall score for handling the economy is 52%, down from 60% in the spring.
For the first time, moreover, people who strongly disapprove of how Obama is handling the economy outweigh those who strongly approve, at 35% to 29%.
And with focus on health care this week and the next few, there's a red flag number there as well, with 33% strongly against Obama's efforts and just 25% strongly for them. Overall, 49% approve of the President's handling of health care.
ABC News pollster Gary Langer sees a strong parallel to Ronald Reagan's early years in office, when unemployment numbers were on a similar path, rising as Reagan's approval dropped steadily to 42% after two years.
"That history explains the urgency with which Obama's pushing a range of issues, notably health care; until the economy heads up, his popularity is likely to continue down," Langer says in his analysis.
On the plus side for the White House, while opinions on health care and the economy may be trending towards the messages Republicans are putting out, the GOP itself is only benefiting a little - so far.
The GOP's approval is up 11 points from a year ago to 36%. The Democrats are at 47%.
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