Obama's Approval Rating Drops to 50 Percent, Poll Shows

President Obama's approval rating has dropped to 50 percent, according to a poll released Thursday, a new low for the president as he tries to shepherd health care reform legislation through Congress in the next few months.

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows 50 percent of Americans approve of the job Obama is doing compared to 42 percent who don't.

That's the lowest number since Obama took office, and down from a 57 percent approval rating at the beginning of July.

A FOX News poll released July 23 showed his job performance at 54 percent.

The new Quinnipiac numbers suggest the public is losing confidence in the president's ability to guide domestic policy issues, yet retaining confidence in his ability to guide foreign policy.

Voters disapproved of the way he's handling health care by 52 percent to 39 percent, according to the poll. But they approved of the way he's handling foreign policy 52 to 38 percent.

Though his performance rating is down, the poll still showed Americans are more confident in his ability to handle the economy and health care than in the ability of Republicans in Congress.

The survey was taken July 27-Aug. 3 and based on interviews with 2,409 registered voters. It had a margin of error of 2 points.