Pete, your cogent take is yet again corroborated, this time by the Washington Post-ABC News poll. What we see is an across-the-board erosion in not just the public’s overall approval of Obama’s performance, but in confidence in his ability to manage every significant domestic item on his agenda. The Post explains:

Heading into a critical period in the debate over health-care reform, public approval of President Obama’s stewardship on the issue has dropped below the 50 percent threshold for the first time, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Obama’s approval ratings on other front-burner issues, such as the economy and the federal budget deficit, have also slipped over the summer, as rising concern about spending and continuing worries about the economy combine to challenge his administration. Barely more than half approve of the way he is handling unemployment, which now tops 10 percent in 15 states and the District.

The president’s overall approval rating remains higher than his marks on particular domestic issues, with 59 percent giving him positive reviews and 37 percent disapproving. But this is the first time in his presidency that Obama has fallen under 60 percent in Post-ABC polling, and the rating is six percentage points lower than it was a month ago.

The underlying figures are startling. Confidence in his ability to handle health care has plunged from 57 percent to 49 percent, while disapproval has jumped from 29 percent to 44 percent. On the deficit, respondents disapprove by a 49 percent to 43 percent margin. And it appears that Obama’s embrace of tax and spending policies has not gone over well:

Nearly a quarter of moderate and conservative Democrats (22 percent) now see Obama as an “old-style tax-and-spend Democrat,” up from 4 percent in March. Among all Americans, 52 percent consider Obama a “new-style Democrat who will be careful with the public’s money.” That is down from 58 percent a month ago and 62 percent in March, to about where President Bill Clinton was on that question in the summer of 1993.

Concerns about the federal account balance are also reflected in views about another round of stimulus spending. In the new poll, more than six in 10 oppose spending beyond the $787 billion already allocated to boost the economy. Most Democrats support more spending; big majorities of Republicans and independents are against the idea.

Support for new spending is tempered by flagging confidence on Obama’s plan for the economy. Fifty-six percent are confident that his programs will reap benefits, but that is down from 64 percent in March and from 72 percent just before he took office six months ago. More now say they have no confidence in the plan than say they are very confident it will work. Among independents and Republicans, confidence has decreased by 20 or more points; it has dropped seven points among Democrats.

Higher income Americans, who made up a key part of Obama’s coalition, have figured out health care is going to be paid by them if Obama has his way. Accordingly, the poll shows that “those with incomes above $50,000 now are split evenly between Obama and Republicans on dealing with health care. In June, they favored Obama by a 21-point margin.”

Moreover, the poll sampled all adults, not merely voters or even likely voters in 2010. It is quite possible that among actual voters Obama’s numbers are far worse.

Why does all of this matter? At the time in which Obama is thrusting himself forward to “sell” government-centric health care, his credibility on that on other issues is skidding. Furthermore, lawmakers can read these numbers too. They understand that the public is losing faith in a government-run health-care scheme and in the massive tax plan that would be needed to fund it. There is a reason lawmakers of both parties are openly challenging Obama’s timetable and vision for a massive health-care reform effort.

Meanwhile, the administration appears to be panicking, resorting to every trick in the book to stem the tide of discontent over its leftward drift. The A.P. reports:

The White House is being forced to acknowledge the wide gap between its once-upbeat predictions about the economy and today’s bleak landscape.

The administration’s annual midsummer budget update is sure to show higher deficits and unemployment and slower growth than projected in President Barack Obama’s budget in February and update in May, and that could complicate his efforts to get his signature health care and global-warming proposals through Congress.

The release of the update — usually scheduled for mid-July — has been put off until the middle of next month, giving rise to speculation the White House is delaying the bad news at least until Congress leaves town on its August 7 summer recess.

But this sort of sleight of hand rarely works, and in this case, Hourse Minority Leade Boehner is already going ballistic, arguing that the Obama administration is trying to “hide the fact that the policies of this Administration have buried our children and grandchildren under historic debt.”

If all that isn’t sobering enough for Obama-philes, there is this jaw-dropper from Rasmussen: in a potential 2012 presidential election match-up, Mitt Romney ties Obama at 45% and beats Obama among unaffiliated voters by 48% to 41%. Well, it’s very early but still. Wow.

Whether Obama, who possesses admirable oratorical skills, can own up to the fiscal train-wreck he is presiding over and reverse his slide in the polls, remains to be seen. But it may be that the problem is not Obama personally, nor a deficit in rhetorical skills. It may frankly be that Americans didn’t vote for a leftward lurch in their government and now are registering their extreme discomfort with a president who is trying to pull off one of the most audacious bait-and-switch political maneuvers in recent memory.