Gallup poll says 47 percent Americans disapprove of Obama's performance

Washington, Mar. 18 : The latest Gallup poll has revealed that 47 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama's job performance compared to 46 percent who approve.

The deteriorating approval rating comes as the president struggles to push his increasingly unpopular health care plan across the finish line with a controversial manoeuvre that would avoid a GOP filibuster by allowing Congress to pass and adjust the Senate''s bill with a simple majority.

The plunging rating threatens to weaken the president''s influence beyond the health care debate to pass a largely ambitious agenda that includes immigration overhaul, climate change legislation and education reform.

It could also put distance between Obama and Democratic lawmakers up for re-election in November who see no benefit in having an increasingly unpopular president stump for them.

Obama''s campaigning efforts have already failed to help notch victories in gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey and the Senate contest in Massachusetts in replace Ted Kennedy.

The Gallup poll is based on a three-day rolling average of at least 1,000 adults with a margin of error of 2 points.