Following the election of Barack Obama on November 4, confidence in the War on Terror soared to all-time highs, but that spike in confidence has disappeared. Confidence is back to pre-election levels, still near the highest levels recorded in the past five years.

A similar spike in voter confidence about the war on terror occurred following the Democratic victories in Election 2006. That spike also faded very quickly.

Now just 52% of voters say the United States and its allies are winning the war on terror, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Twenty percent (20%) say the terrorists are winning, and 21% say neither is on top. Seven percent (7%) are undecided.

Just last week, voter confidence in the War on Terror reached its highest level ever, with 60% saying the United States and its allies are winning. But voters were not quite as confident as they were before the election that Obama will bring the troops home from Iraq within his first term.

Voter confidence began rising in August. The 52% finding matches a survey released on Election Day.

Sixty percent (60%) of men and 44% of women say the United States and its allies are winning.

While 73% of Republicans think America is winning, just 35% of Democrats agree.

In a survey earlier this week, most U.S. voters said terrorists or Iran will provide the new president’s first international test in office.

New numbers on voter confidence in Obama’s ability to handle national security matters will be released at 3 pm today.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? Sign up now. If it's in the news, it's in our polls).

Nearly half of voters (48%) say the United States is safer today than it was before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but 35% disagree. Seventeen percent (17%) remain undecided. This is a four-point fall in confidence from the record set in last week’s survey.

With a Democrat going into the White House and increased majorities for the party in both the House and Senate, 51% of Democrats still feel the country is not as safe as it was seven years ago. Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republicans and 48% of unaffiliated voters say it is safer.

Forty-six percent (46%) say the situation in Iraq will get better in the next six months, while 21% say it will get worse. Twenty-three percent (23%) expect it to be about the same. These numbers are largely unchanged from a week ago.

Voters are closely divided on whether the war in Iraq will be seen as a success or failure in the long-term. But nearly one-quarter (24%) are undecided.

Men are more confident that it will be judged a success; a plurality of women think it will be regarded as a failure.

While 59% of Democrats say the war will be seen as a failure, 58% of GOP voters say history will view it as a success. Unaffiliated voters by five points say it will be regarded as a success.

Confidence in President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq also has fallen. Now 29% rate his performance good or excellent, while 50% say it is poor. Last week, 35% said the president was doing a good or excellent job, and 44% a poor one. Still the new numbers are the president’s second highest reading in a month.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free)… let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs and Historical Data are available to Premium Members only.