America to Obama: ‘You Kinda Suck, Dude’

It’s not a good morning to be President Obama or an important member of his reelection team.

Obama is s now losing 47 to 46 in a head to head match up with Mitt Romney according to the Washington Post, with upside down approval numbers to boot:

The potential political con­sequences are clear, with the ­rising public disapproval reversing some of the gains the president had made in hypothetical general-election matchups against possible Republican rivals for the White House. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) now both run about evenly with Obama. The findings come just five weeks after Obama appeared to be getting a boost from the improving economy.

What’s to blame for the Republican uptick? Well, the same thing to blame for the downtick in what’s left in your bank account:

Gas prices are a main culprit: Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they disapprove of the way the president is handling the situation at the pump, where rising prices have already hit hard. Just 26 percent approve of his work on the issue, his lowest rating in the poll. Most Americans say higher prices are already taking a toll on family finances, and nearly half say they think that prices will continue to rise, and stay high.

Aside from gas prices, Obama has some pretty bad approval ratings as well:

The negative movement has also stalled what had been a gradual increase since the fall in the president’s overall approval rating. In the new poll, 46 percent approve of the way Obama is handling his job; 50 percent disapprove. That’s a mirror image of his 50 to 46 positive split in early February.

Obama is doing especially poorly with Independents and white votes without a college degree:

The downshift is particularly notable among independents — 57 percent of whom now disapprove — and among white people without college degrees, with disapproval among this group now topping approval by a ratio of more than 2 to 1, at 66 versus 28 percent.

Obama polls badly on the deficit and foreign policy as well, leaving him basically no bright spots to look at. it remains to be seen if last Friday’s stagnant unemployment rate will help or hurt the President. All in all, though, it could shape up to be a bleak week for the president.

For more on the poll, I recommend Ed Morrissey at Hot Air and Jim Geraghty at NRO.