Obama's Approval Rating Dips Amid High Gas Prices

Rising gas prices—and GOP attacks centered around them—have delivered a blow to President Obama's approval rating, a new poll out Monday suggests.

The Washington Post/ABC News survey found that nearly two-thirds of Americans say they are unhappy with how the president has handled gas prices. The same poll found that more Americans now disapprove of Obama's overall job performance than approve for the first time since this past November.

The poll found that 46 percent of respondents said they either strongly or somewhat approve of the president's job performance, while 50 percent say they strongly or somewhat disapprove. That's a reversal from last month when 50 percent approved and 46 percent didn't. Obama began 2012 with a 48-48 split in the same poll.

His approval rating on the economy in specific has also dipped, falling from 44 percent last month to 38 percent in the new poll. (Last month, 53 percent disapproved; this month 59 percent do.) Interestingly, the downward trend comes even though the economy has been showing signs of recovery.

The Post notes that the new poll could spell trouble for Obama in November. Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney both run about even with the president in hypothetical one-to-one matchups: Obama bests Santorum 49 percent to 46 and loses to Romney 49 percent to 47.

Also of note: When pollsters asked whether the GOP or Democrats care "more about issues that are especially important to women,” 55 percent picked the Democrats and 30 percent went with the GOP. That's a 3-point gain for Democrats and a 6-point loss for Republicans from the previous month.