ABC/WashPost Poll: Obama Approval Sinks to New Low

President Barack Obama's approval rating is continuing to drop, and now stands at 40 percent, the lowest level of his presidency, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.

The poll, released on Wednesday, brings the president's rating down another point since September, reports The Post, and also shows political trends that are tilting just before the November midterm election.

Republican voters are more likely to vote in the election than Democrats this fall, the poll also revealed, just as the GOP is striving to seize six Senate seats and regain control of the chamber.

Several Democrat candidates in the nation's congressional and gubernatorial races have already been distancing themselves from the president, reports Politico, in a year when the president's policies, including Obamacare, are playing large in the races.

The survey of 1,006 adults was conducted between Oct. 9-13, and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 points.

Obama's economic approval rating did climb a bit, according to the poll, and now stands at 44 percent, reflecting a declining unemployment rate and more positive economic news. Disapproval on the economy is at 51 percent, said poll, the best numbers for Obama since September 2013.

However, his public support is plummeting in other key areas, the poll showed. At the end of September, 50 percent of the public approved of his handling of the Islamic State (ISIS) threat, but the new poll shows just 35 percent approve.

Further, Obama remained at near his low ratings on Obamacare, terrorism, and international affairs, and marked his worst rating, 29 percent, on how he has dealt with the immigration issue. In June, Obama's approval rating on immigration was at 38 percent.

The lower numbers in part may reflect the president's decision to put off using his executive powers to pen changes to immigration and include amnesty for undocumented persons until after the election, when initially he'd planned to announce his action at the end of summer.

Obama's lower numbers, coupled with poll findings that Republicans are more likely to turn out to vote, could spell problems for Democrats next month. Republicans, by 77 percent, said they intend to vote, as compared to 63 percent of Democrats.

And while the president's party generally loses seats during midterm elections, The Post reports, 62 percent of the voters in its poll said Obama won't be a factor in their vote. However, many said they'll vote to show their opposition to the president.

Overall, jobs and the economy are still the most important election issue, the voters said in the poll, with around 37 percent of Democrats, Republicans and independents saying the economy is their top concern.

Democrats and Republicans both agreed that healthcare ranks second, but independent voters said their second-most-important issue is how lawmakers in Washington work, or don't, to get things done.

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