By I-Hsien Sherwood (i.sherwood@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Mar 25, 2013 05:16 PM EDT

President Obama has long enjoyed the confidence of the American public when it comes to the economy, at least when his ratings are compared to those of Congressional Republicans.

But his advantage seems to be slipping lately. A new CNN/ORC poll shows that while 47 percent od respondents prefer the way the president is handling the economy, a full 46 percent prefer the methods of the Republicans.

That's a huge turnaround from earlier in the year, when, in the wake of the fiscal cliff standoff, Obama had a 15 point lead over the Republicans, 50 percent to 35 percent.

At the end of last year, as the Republicans were threatening to force the country over the cliff, the gap was even higher, 18 percent.

At the time, though most Americans were worried about the cliff and the looming budget sequestration and the spending cuts it entailed, Obama was confident that the political fallout would hurt the Republicans far more, giving him leverage in the negotiations that resulted in a compromise measure to end the Bush era tax cuts for wealthier Americans.

At the time, polls showed 47 percent of Americans would blame the Republicans for damage to the economy resulting from the fiscal cliff, while only 33 percent would have blamed Obama.

Those numbers have shifted, too. Now only 40 percent of respondents say the Republicans would be to blame if the federal government is forced to shut down during budget negotiations, and 38 percent say Obama would be to blame.

Gone is the president's buffer of good will post-election, and budget fatigue seems to be wearing on the public. Americans are more likely to blame anyone and everyone in power, whatever the specifics of their positions.

A full 67 percent of respondents in the CNN/ORC poll disapprove of the way the president is handling the economy, and 79 percent disapprove of the way the Republicans are handling it.

While that's a large gap, the numbers are so poor for both sides that there will be little sympathy for the president if the current round of negotiations go sour and the government is forced to shut down, further impacting Social Security and Medicare recipients, members of the military and federal workers, all of whom have already suffered due to the sluggish economic recovery.

The president has less leverage this round than he did a few months ago. The question is, do the Republicans know that, too?

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