Poll: President's approval on health care under 50 percent

By Paul Steinhauser
CNN Deputy Political Director

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Hours before President Barack Obama holds a prime-time news conference to push for health care reform, a CNN Poll of Polls indicates that less than half of all Americans approve of how he's handling the issue.

The survey, compiled and released Wednesday, showed that 47 percent approve of how the president is dealing with health care reform and 44 percent disapprove.

The CNN Poll of Polls is an average of the three most recent national surveys to ask about Obama's performance on health care: USA Today/Gallup (July 17-19); ABC/Washington Post (July 15-18) and CBS News (July 9-12).

The ABC News/Washington Post poll, which was released Monday, indicates Obama still has a large advantage over Republicans on the issue. Fifty-four percent of those questioned say they trust Obama to do a better job handling health care than Republicans in Congress, with 34 percent putting more faith in congressional Republicans than the president.