The latest New York Times/CBS poll contains some interesting data, as Pete noted. Obama still gets a 63% approval rating, but it is increasingly hard to figure out why.

Only 7% consider healthcare to be the top priority. Jobs draw 19% and the economy gets 38%. On the economy, his approval ranks lower than his overall job approval (55%) as he does on health care (44%). On the auto industry — fewer approve (41%) than not (46%). On the issue of whether government should do more or is doing too much that should be left to business and individuals, 34% say it should do more and 56% say it’s already doing too much; 52% say we should not spend money but reduce the deficit; only 41% say we should do the reverse; 60% say the Obama administration has no clear plan for dealing with the deficit. By a 51-34% margin, respondents want to keep Guantanamo open.

Other polls show even worse news for Obama’s personal approval and support for his policies. From the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll we learn “His job approval rating now stands at 56%, down from 61% in April. Among independents, it dropped from nearly two-to-one approval to closely divided.” And there is more:

“The public is really moving from evaluating him as a charismatic and charming leader to his specific handling of the challenges facing the country,” says Peter D. Hart, a Democratic pollster who conducts the survey with Republican Bill McInturff. Going forward, he says, Mr. Obama and his allies “are going to have to navigate in pretty choppy waters.”

[. . .]

There’s good news for the administration, too, including tentative support for Mr. Obama’s health-care plan and approval Nearly seven in 10 survey respondents said they had concerns about federal interventions into the economy, including Mr. Obama’s decision to take an ownership stake in General Motors Corp., limits on executive compensation and the prospect of more government involvement in health care. The negative feeling toward the GM rescue was reflected elsewhere in the survey as well.

A solid majority — 58% — said that the president and Congress should focus on keeping the budget deficit down, even if takes longer for the economy to recover.

At some point the public may discover that Obama is the one who took over GM, has racked up the biggest deficit in history, wants government to do more and more, and is trying to close Guantanamo. Then the president might have a serious problem. Despite the fondest hopes of the Left it seems there isn’t a groundswell of support for the things he is doing.