A new Quinnipiac poll finds President Obama's job approval rating has dropped to 44%, his worst net score ever, and American voters say by a narrow 39% to 36% that they would vote for an unnamed Republican rather than Obama in 2012.
By a 48% to 40% margin, Americans say Obama does not deserve reelection in 2012.
Said pollster Peter Brown: "It was a year ago, during the summer of 2009 that America's love affair with President Obama began to wane. In July of 2009, the President had a 57% to 33% approval rating. Today, his support among Democrats remains strong, but the disillusionment among independent voters, who dropped from 52% to 37% approval to 52% to 38% disapproval in the last 12 months, is what leads to his weakness overall when voters start thinking about 2012."