Barack Obama's woe with US economy turns off voters

President Barack Obama's failure to revive the US economy has undermined his standing among voters as they head into November congressional elections dissatisfied with their government.

Obama has two years left in his term to overcome the deepening lack of confidence in his handling of the ravaged economy, with unemployment near 10%, national debt exploding and growth painfully slow.

Should Democrats lose their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate there would be an end to legislation such as the huge economic stimulus, health care overhaul and finance regulation reform pushed through by Obama.

With a new poll showing nearly six in 10 voters saying they lack confidence that the president will make the right decisions for the country he holds a weak hand.

An ABC News-Washington Post poll shows that voters favour a Republican-controlled Congress by a margin of 56% to 41%. About seven in 10 registered voters lacked confidence in politicians of both parties.

Matthew Dowd, a top strategist on President George W Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, said: "It will be bad for the Democrats. The question is: How bad, how big is the tidal wave?"