• USA TODAY-Gallup found that the percentage of Americans who said they believed Obama would heal political divisions in the country — a campaign pledge — was about half of what it was a year ago. Only 28% said they believed he would be able to do that in a poll taken Oct. 16-19, while 54% had said so last Nov. 7-9, just after Obama was elected.

• The president has fallen especially hard on questions about whether he can improve the health care system and control federal spending, two issues that have joined jobs to dominate domestic headlines this year.

Last November, according to USA TODAY-Gallup, 52% said they had confidence that Obama would control federal spending, but only 31% said so in the Oct. 16-19 survey. Over the same period, those who said they believed Obama could improve the health care system dropped from 64 to 46%.

The president also has gotten a more definite ideological label in his first year in office. A year ago, 43% of Americans described Obama as liberal or very liberal. In October, according to USA TODAY-Gallup, 54% did.

Riehle said half of the 1,000 adults he polled earlier this week said they were worse off financially than they were a year ago.

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