Voters are nearly evenly split over President Obama's job performance, according to a new AP-GfK Poll (April 7-12, 1001 A, MoE +/- 4.3%), which is in line with other recent polls.

Half of those surveyed disapprove of Obama, while 49% approve. That's a downward trend from a month ago, when Obama's approval rating was 53%/46%.

Meanwhile, approval of Congress has increased in the last month, during which the health care reform bill was both passed and signed into law. No jumping for joy yet, however, for members of Congress, whose approval is still a paltry 28%, with 70% disapproving. It was 22%/76% in March.

As for the midterm election cycle, 44% said they'd like to see Republicans win control of Congress, while 41% want Democrats to retain control, and 12% volunteered a "don't care" answer. A bad sign for incumbents: 43% want their own member of Congress re-elected, while 51% want someone else to win.

On specific issues: Republicans are trusted more to protect the country (49%-40%), Democrats are trusted more to handle health care (48%-40%), and the parties are split on handling the economy (44%-44%).

In its latest survey (742 RVs, 4/8-11, MoE +/- 3.6%) Public Policy Polling (D) again finds Sen. Richard Burr (R) ahead of his potential Democratic opponents. But it also sees a familiar pattern, with the incumbent Republican's approval rating slipping, and the potential for a real Democratic challenge to emerge after the primary as it did in the 2008 race between Elizabeth Dole (R) and now-Sen. Kay Hagan (D).

General Election Matchups
Burr 43 (+2 vs. last poll, 3/12-15)
Marshall 37 (+1)
Und 20 (-3)

Burr 43 (unch)
Cunningham 35 (+3)
Und 22 (-3)

Burr 43 (unch)
Lewis 35 (+3)
Und 22 (-3)

Burr 43 (+2)
Generic D 38 (-1)
Und 19 (-1)

Burr's net job rating has slipped 14 points since March: 32 percent now approve of his performance while 41 percent disapprove. Most voters continue to be unfamiliar with the Democratic challengers, as they were with Hagan in '08. Of course the climate this year should be more favorable to Republicans than it was then, when Obama ultimately carried the state.

California Sen. Barbara Boxer holds small leads over three potential Republican opponents, but her support never eclipses the low 40s, according to a new Rasmussen poll (April 12, 500 LV, MoE +/- 4.5%).

Boxer 42 - Fiorina 38 - Und 13

Boxer 42 - DeVore 39 - Und 12

Boxer 43 - Campbell 41 - Und 10

Boxer leads Campbell by 1.0 point, Fiorina by 3.7 points and DeVore by 5.7 points in the RCP Average.

A new poll from Public Policy Polling finds just a small amount of daylight between the amount of people who would prefer Barack Obama or George W. Bush to be president. The national survey found that 48 percent prefer Obama as president, while 46 percent would rather it be Bush.

Not surprisingly 86 percent of Democrats prefer Obama, and 87 percent of Republicans like Bush. However, independents prefer Obama by a 49-37 percent margin, giving him the overall edge.

Meanwhile, Obama's approval rating is upside down, with 46 percent approving and 48 percent disapproving. And after a year of health care reform debate and Obama signing the bill into law last month, 47 percent say Congress should make repealing the law one of its top priorities for the rest of the year.

Just 44 percent say Congress shouldn't make that a priority.

The poll was conducted April 9-11 of 622 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.9%.

(Cross-posted from Politics Nation)

Sen. John Thune (R) reports raising more than $1 million in the first three months of 2010, boosting his warchest to over $6.5 million as he runs for a second term in South Dakota.

Thune's fundraising takes on an added significance given that Democrats failed to field a single candidate for the office. There is a June 8 deadline for other independent candidates to file, and his campaign talks of the potential for a liberal netroots-fueled challenger. But realistically, Thune boasts an impressive warchest with little reason to spend much of it on his own race, which can only further fuel talk of a 2012 run.

Thune steadfastly refuses to talk about 2012, saying he's focused only on 2010. To that point, he was notably absent from last weekend's Southern Republican Leadership Conference, choosing instead to stay home for party-building activities like county GOP dinners. As chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, he's also beefing up his issue portfolio, with a particular focus on fiscal issues.

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A Susquehannah Polling and Research survey mirrors other Pennsylvania surveys in showing Pat Toomey (R) ahead of Sen. Arlen Specter (D).

Senate General Election Matchups
Toomey 48 (+6 vs. last poll, 3/3-6)
Specter 38 (+2)
Und 10 (-8)

Susqhehanna did not release numbers for Sestak against Toomey. In the Democratic primary, Specter is still ahead by double digits.

Senate Primary Election Matchup
Specter 42 (-2 vs. last poll, 10/7-12)
Sestak 28 (+12)
Und 26 (+4)

After the jump, numbers on health care and matchups in the gubernatorial primary.

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Food for thought: a national Rasmussen survey (1,000 LVs, 4/12-13, MoE +/- 3%) pits Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R) against President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 matchup. The result:

Obama 42
Paul 41
Other 11
Und 6

Per Rasmussen:

Obama earns 79% support from Democrats, but Paul gets just 66% of GOP votes. Voters not affiliated with either major party give Paul a 47% to 28% edge over the president.

Paul has a national favorable rating of 39 percent, 30 percent view him unfavorably and 32 percent are not sure.

If you're sick and tired of reading about Tiger Woods' scandalous behavior, I've found the perfect antidote.

Yesterday, Rasmussen released surprising numbers in the Pennsylvania Senate primary, showing Rep. Joe Sestak (D) closing in on Sen. Arlen Specter (D). This morning's general election numbers (1,000 LVs, 4/12, MoE +/- 3%) show that former Rep. Pat Toomey (R) would defeat either Democrat if the election were held today.

General Election Matchups
Toomey 50 (+1 vs. last poll, 3/15)
Specter 40 (unch)
Und 6 (-1)

Toomey 47 (+5)
Sestak 36 (-1)
Und 12 (-3)

President Obama has a 46 percent approval rating, while 54 percent disapprove. More than half of Pennsylvanians say the new health care law is bad for the country, with only 36 percent saying it's good. Sixty percent would favor an effort to repeal the law.

RCP's Sean Trende has a must read piece for political junkies on the 2010 midterms.