Support for health care reform has slipped slightly as more voters think President Obama should work harder on his promise to cut the federal deficit in half in the next four years.

Thirty-six percent (36%) of U.S. voters say cutting the deficit is the most important of the four priorities the president cited in a speech to Congress in February, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. That’s up from 32% in March.

At the same time, 24% rate health care reform as the most important of Obama’s priorities, down from 29% in the earlier survey.

But a growing number of voters (63%) – up from 54% in March - also see cutting the deficit in half as the goal the president is least likely to achieve.
Just after the president’s speech, 42% named deficit reduction as the top priority while 24% said health care.

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Congress has reportedly reached a broad consensus on health care reform, but the public gives very mixed reviews to the details that have emerged so far.

Sixteen percent (16%) of all voters now say each of the president’s other two priorities – development of new sources of energy and ensuring that every child has access to a complete and competitive education – are most important. That’s a drop of two points for the energy priority and an increase of four for Obama’s education initiative from March.

Health care reform (26%) and development of new sources of energy (23%) remain the priorities voters say the president is most likely to achieve, although these numbers are virtually unchanged from three months ago.

Nearly half of Republicans (46%) and a plurality of voters not affiliated with either major party (39%) say cutting the deficit in half over the next four years is the most important of Obama’s priorities, but just 24% of Democrats agree.

For a plurality of Democrats (39%), health care reform is the president’s top priority, a view shared by only 14% of GOP voters and 16% of unaffiliateds. In fact, for Republicans and unaffiliated voters, health care reform now ranks roughly equal with energy development and education as a priority.

The majority of Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters agree that cutting the deficit is the goal the president is least likely to achieve. Doubts among Democrats and unaffiliateds have grown since March.

While Obama’s approval numbers remain high in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential tracking Poll, most voters are worried that the government will do “too much” in response to the nation’s economic woes.

Voter are evenly divided as to whether the President’s stimulus package has helped the economy, hurt the economy, or had no impact. At the same time, 67% oppose the federal government bailout of General Motors.

As for reducing the size of the deficit, 77% of voters view politicians’ unwillingness to cut government spending as a bigger problem for the country than the public’s reluctance to pay higher taxes.

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