Obama hanging tight

For the second month in a row Barack Obama's approval rating is at 52% nationally. 44% of voters disapprove of the job he's doing.

81% of Democrats, 52% of independents, and 18% of Republicans give him good marks. While whites disapprove of him by a 50/45 margin, that's balanced out by his receiving approval from 89% of African Americans and 64% of Hispanics.

Obama has barely lost any support from people who voted for him last November. Only 5% now express disapproval of him while 93% think he's doing a good job. The percentage of McCain voters- 11%- who now approve of his work is greater than the proportion of his own voters Obama has lost. PPP numbers coming out tomorrow will show that Obama leads a quartet of possible 2012 opponents by margins equal to or greater than what he won last fall.

While Obama's overall approval numbers are flat compared to a month ago, support for him on health care is on the rise. In mid-August 47% of voters said they were opposed to his plan with just 40% in support. Now Americans are almost evenly divided with 46% opposed and 45% in support.

The primary movement in the last month has come with independents. They were arrayed 49/35 against it and now support it by a narrow 46/44 margin. It's interesting to note though that there hasn't been any increase in backing from Democrats, perhaps an indication that those who weren't standing with the President on the issue to begin with felt so strongly about it that a speech wasn't going to change their minds. Republicans continue to be more united in their opposition (81%) than Democrats are in their support (70%).

Full results here