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Fifty per cent of Americans taking part in a Quinnipiac Poll don't believe President Barack Obama deserves a second term, while 41 percent think he deserves to be re-elected in 2012.
The poll also reveals that his overall approval rating has dropped four percentage points since early March to 42 percent.
A majority of Democrats -- 80 percent -- approve of what Obama is doing. Eighty-one percent to nine percent of Republicans disapprove of what he is doing.
According to the New York Daily News, dissatisfaction with Obama's policy in Libya could account for the dip.
"President Barack Obama's approval numbers are at their lowest level ever, slightly below where they were for most of 2010 before he got a bump up in surveys after the November election and into the early part of this year," said Peter A Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"Some reasons for his overall numbers might be that Obama receives negative ratings on his handling of the budget deficit, the economy, foreign policy, health care and energy policy," he added.
That could mean trouble for Obama if his approval ratings stay stagnant.
In a hypothetical 2012 race, President Obama gets 36 percent of the vote compared with 37 percent for an unnamed Republican challenger.
His lead, however, grows when he is pitted against likely GOP foes such as Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee.
The survey was conducted between March 22 and March 28 and polled 2,069 registered voters. The margin of error was 2.2 percent.