Barack Obama will address a joint session of Congress this evening in an attempt to rescue his health-care overhaul, but he will face a much more skeptical audience with the voters.  After all, Democrats have wide majorities in Congress, but Obama now has a majority of the electorate opposing him on health care, according to the AP:

Public disapproval of President Barack Obama’s handling of health care has jumped to 52 percent, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released hours before he makes his case for overhaul in a prime-time address to Congress.

With his health revamp moving slowly and unemployment edging ever higher, Obama’s overall approval rating has also suffered a blow. The survey showed that 49 percent now disapprove of how he is handling his job as president, up from 42 percent who disapproved in July.

The grade people give Obama on health care also has worsened since July, when just 43 percent disapproved of his work on the issue.

But what about the proposals already in Congress?  Voters oppose them as well, by a wide margin:

Forty-nine percent say they oppose the health overhaul plans being considered by Congress, compared to just 34 percent who favor them.

That’s not the limit of the bad news, either.  Obama’s marks on the economy and on the deficit have suffered big blows, with majorities of 52% and 56% disapproving, respectively.  On taxes, 52% disapprove as well, perhaps setting the stage for a real meltdown when cap-and-trade hits the Senate floor later this month.

Worst of all, the AP survey took place among American adults, not registered or likely voters.  That sampling technique usually produces the most sympathy for liberal policies and politicians.  If American adults have majorities opposed to Obama on these issues, the more predictive surveys of registered and likely voters will show more erosion and greater political danger for Democrats.

It’s safe to say the honeymoon is over, and that Americans have begun realizing that Obama is both more radical and far less competent than his presidential campaign projected.

Update: Interesting internals from the AP poll, including overall approval rating among adults being at 50%, with 49% disapproving.  Strongly disapproving beats strongly approving by 11 points, 35%-24%.  Obama has lost five points in six weeks on the overall approval number, and the gap closed from 13 points (55%-42%) to one point in that time.

Congressional disapproval has jumped six points to 69% in the last six weeks, and 14 points since the end of May, when ObamaCare became a priority.  Only 28% approve, and only 3% strongly approve.

Obama’s internals on issues look very bad indeed.  On economics, Obama’s disapproval is 52% over 44% approval — but those strongly disapproving are at 41%, compared to 20% strongly approving.  That is a 12-point shift in six weeks, with the overall gap sinking 14 points in that period.  On health care, it’s even worse.  Obama has lost 19 points in the last six weeks on the overall approval gap.

On taxes, Obama now trails by a whopping 22 points, 50% disapproving against only 38% approving.

This is a meltdown, which makes the speech tonight a Hail Mary.  His presidency is collapsing in terms of mandate, and this is among adults, not registered or likely voters. (via Geoff A)