President Barack Obama's approval is in the mid-40s, two new polls show.

The Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found a 45 percent approval rating and the conservative-leaning Civitas Institute pulled a 44 percent rating.

"North Carolina is one of the few states where Obama's standing has declined enough that he probably wouldn't win it again if the election was held today," PPP's Tom Jensen notes.

"It looks like the honeymoon is definitely ending for President Obama, said Francis De Luca, executive director of the Civitas Institute.

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The numbers are getting worse for Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue.

A pair of polls from the left and the right show that voters are increasingly dissatisfied with Perdue, a Democrat.

Perdue's approval rating is 24 percent in the latest survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic polling firm. The firm says that is the lowest figure yet for Perdue, who is in her first year in office.

Likewise, the right-leaning Civitas Institute found in its poll that 29 percent of voters were dissatisfied with Perdue. The real bad news for her is that 63 percent of respondents disapproved, the first time a majority has been unhappy with the governor in the Civitas poll.

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More voters disapprove of Barack Obama’s job as President than approve, according to a new poll.

The poll, conducted by the Civitas Institute found that of 662 North Carolina voters, 46.3 percent said they disapproved of the president's performance. That's more than the 44.3 percent who said they approved. The remaining 9.4 percent said they had no opinion.

"The divisive health care proposal along with unemployment in North Carolina remaining above 11 percent has sent President Barack Obama’s job approval numbers in a downward spiral," said Francis De Luca, executive director of the Civitas Institute.

The results show a similar trend to a poll conducted by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling.

Obama can no longer count on the support of unaffiliated voters to bolster his approval ratings. Nearly half (48.5 percent) of unaffiliated voters now disapprove of his performance in office, while only 35 percent said they still approve, the poll found.

The Civitas poll, which was conducted by Insider Advantage of Atlanta has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent.

North Carolina voters have a certain amount of skepticism about proposed changes in the nation’s health care system, according a new poll.

The survey suggests opposition to any plan that results in higher taxes for universal health care and skepticism about government-run programs.

That is according to a poll conducted for The Civitas Institute, a conservative-leaning advocacy group in Raleigh.

According to the poll, 61 percent of voters selected keeping cost affordable as their highest priority in any health care reform; 18 percent selected maintaining a high quality system while only 16 percent said universal coverage for all, Rob Christensen reports.

"While political leaders cite all kinds of reasons federal action is needed, at the end of the day North Carolina voters are most interested in keeping health care costs affordable," said Francis De Luca, Civitas Institute executive director. "Politicians would be wise to listen to what the voters are saying."

Only 36 percent said they would be willing to pay higher taxes to provide insurance for everyone, while 56 percent said they would not, according to the poll.

When asked, given their knowledge of Medicaid and other government programs,  whether they would you would entrust their health or their family’s health to a government-run health insurance plan, 29 percent said "yes," 56 percent said "no" and 9 percent said "not sure."

The poll of 600 registered voters was conducted July 14 to 17 by Tel Opinion Research of Alexandria, Virginia. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The Senate gave final approval Monday night to a ban on plastic bags in grocery stores.

The ban applies to three coastal counties Dare, Currituck and Hyde and is meant to keep the bags from polluting the landscape.

The day after the Senate voted 44 to 2 to concur with the House version of the bill, the Civitas Institute released the results of a poll showing a majority of state residents oppose such bans.

The poll asked 600 voters "Would you support or oppose a law banning retail and grocery stores from providing plastic bags to shoppers?"

According to the poll, 58 percent opposed such a ban and 31 percent said they were in support. The remaining 11 percent were unsure.

The proposed ban is least popular in the 252 area code — eastern North Carolina — which encompasses the barrier islands, where only 28 percent of voters said they supported the ban and 62 percent said they were opposed to it, said Civitas Institute Executive Director Francis De Luca.

Another poll finds more support after the jump.

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A poll shows continuing support for offshore drilling.

The survey by the conservative Civitas Institute think tank showed that 72 percent of voters support drilling at least somewhere off the coast of North Carolina.

The poll showed 41 percent support drilling as long as it is not visible from the shore, 31 percent support drilling anywhere off the coast and 22 percent did not support drilling. Six percent had no opinion.

"It appears voters overwhelmingly support drilling off the coast, whether it is a plurality that would allow it within sight of land or huge majorities allowing it somewhere off the coast," said executive director Francis De Luca.

The legislature has appointed a task force to study whether the state should allow offshore drilling. 

The live phone survey of 600 likely general election voters was conducted April 21-23 by McLaughlin and Associates of Alexandria, Va. It has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

A poll shows voters think state government wastes money.

The survey by the conservative Civitas Insitute think tank showed that 52 percent believed more than 20 cents of very dollar spent by government is wasted, including 16 percent who think more than half of every dollar is wasted.

By contrast, 31 percent thought less than 20 cents is wasted and 17 percent had no opinion. Less than one percent thought there was no waste in the state budget.

"I think the message should be pretty clear to state law makers, voters think they waste money," said executive director Francis De Luca.

The live phone survey of 600 likely voters was conducted April 21-23 by McLaughlin and Associates of Alexandria, Va. The margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points.

After the jump, the breakdown.

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A bill would study regulating child beauty pageants.

Rep. Annie Mobley, a Bertie County Democrat, introduced the bill to study pageants whose contestants are younger than 13.

The bill was highlighted by the conservative Civitas Institute's "Bad Bill of the Week" feature:

I am excited about the prospect of government forming the North Carolina Agency to Regulate Beauty Pageants for Girls Under Thirteen (they need to come up with a better acronym, though; NCARBPGUT isn’t catchy enough). Good thing there aren’t any real problems the government should be spending time or money on; like double-digit unemployment, a $3 billion budget deficit, or our state’s 70 percent graduation rate.

Speaking of acronyms, Executive Director Francis De Luca suggests calling the bill "Tots in a Regulatory Environment" — or TIARA.

Attorney General Roy Cooper leads in a new poll.

The survey by the conservative Civitas Institute showed 41 percent would support Cooper for Senate in 2010 over 38 percent who would support incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

"It appears that having an R in front of your name on a statewide ballot in North Carolina is still a net liability," said executive director Francis De Luca. 

Both Burr and Cooper had low unfavorable ratings, but Burr had higher name recognition.

Cooper has not made any announcements about the Senate race, although he is widely expected to run. 

The live survey of 600 likely voters was conducted March 16-19. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

A poll shows good ratings for three Democrats in North Carolina.

The survey by the conservative Civitas Institute think tank showed 64 percent of likely voters had a favorable opinion of President Obama, while 24 percent were unfavorable and 12 percent had no opinion.

It also showed 58 percent had a favorable opinion of Gov. Beverly Perdue, while 20 percent were unfavorable, 20 percent had no opinion and three percent were not aware.

And it showed that 47 percent had a favorable opinion of Sen. Kay Hagan, 22 percent were unfavorable, 25 percent had no opinion and six percent were not aware.

"It appears everyone except for Hagan is still enjoying a honeymoon with North Carolina voters," said executive director Francis De Luca.

The live survey of 600 likely voters was taken March 16-19. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.