Poll: Grouchy Public Sticks With Obama

America's mood has crashed hard after the euphoria that greeted Barack Obama's inauguration: A recent poll shows the country in a pessimistic funk as the president struggles to revive the economy and fight two wars abroad. But Americans haven't lost all faith in Obama: His approval stands at 54%, no change from October, according to the AP-Gfk poll.

The country is "in pretty bad shape," said one Dem who voted for Obama and still believes he can "make things happen" but worries about the president's ability to "handle everything at once." On both the economy and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, major sources of malaise, Obama's approval slipped from last month—but he's still polling much better than Congress, which has the approval of only a third of the country.

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