Obama's approval rating drops below 50 percent

Notwithstanding high marks for his just announced Af-Pak policy, the approval rating of the US President Barack Obama has dropped below the 50 percent mark, the first time since he entered the White House.

Showing a drop of seven points from a survey last month, the CNN/Opinion Research Corp national survey said only 48 percent of the respondents approved the job of Obama as the US president; while 50 percent disapproved it.

"The poll indicates that the biggest drop in approval comes from non-college-educated white voters," said Keating Holland, CNN's polling director.

"That's one indication among many that Obama's growing unpopularity may be more related to unemployment and the poor economy" than to factors such as his strategy for Afghanistan.

The poll was conducted Wednesday and Thursday after Obama announced his Afghan policy on Tuesday.

Six in 10 has favoured Obama's move to send 30,000 more troops to that country, the CNN said.

Two-thirds also supported his plan to start removing US forces from Afghanistan in 2011 -- although the poll indicates most Americans think that announcing such a date in advance is a bad idea, and they are sceptical about whether conditions then will allow the United States to meet that goal, it said.