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Is President Obama鈥檚 approval rating slipping downwards amid the back and forth of "sequester" politics? That鈥檚 the conclusion of a just-released McClatchy-Marist poll. The survey finds that just 45 percent of voters are happy with Mr. Obama鈥檚 job performance, down from 50 percent in November and December. A plurality of 48 percent of respondents disapproves of the president鈥檚 actions, according to the .

Not all new polls are in agreement here. Tuesday鈥檚 shows Obama鈥檚 approval rating above water at 52 percent, up one percentage point from last week.

But the medium-term trend for the president鈥檚 numbers is generally downward. The of Obama鈥檚 approval polls peaked at 53.8 percent on Christmas Day. Since then it鈥檚 steadily fallen to 48.8 percent, with 45.3 percent of respondents disapproving of the presidential performance.

What鈥檚 going on here? One thing pushing this sliding trend may be the quick end of the electoral honeymoon. The president鈥檚 reelection image machine has stopped churning, and the partisan glow his voters felt at his second-term victory is starting to fade.

Paradoxically, Obama may also be paying a price for attempting to appear as strong as possible in the recent series of D.C. fiscal crises.

鈥淭his may be the downside of him coming out of the box stronger in the second term,鈥� Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, told his McClatchy partners. 鈥淧eople are now looking for him to lead us out of this stalemate, provide more leadership. People see him as a strong figure and in the driver鈥檚 seat. During the election, it was him versus Romney. Now it鈥檚 him versus people鈥檚 expectations for the country.鈥�

Then there鈥檚 the sequester itself. Gallup notes that its daily tracking poll showed the president鈥檚 approval rating dropping when the cuts took effect March 1. Since then, Obama鈥檚 Gallup numbers have bounced around day to day, but at the moment the firm has his approval rating at 49 percent, down from 53 percent in late February.

Obama鈥檚 鈥渁pproval rating will likely remain in a precarious state until he and Congress can reach accord on federal spending and the budget deficit,鈥� wrote Gallup鈥檚 Jeffrey Jones earlier this month.

Congress does not seem to be in a similar position. So far the sequester has had little effect on what Americans think about their legislature.

But in part that鈥檚 because it would be hard for opinion about Congress to sink any lower. In a , only 13 percent of respondents approved of Congress鈥檚 job performance. That鈥檚 just a few points higher than the all-time low of 10 percent hit last year.

鈥淭hese low ratings could improve if Congress does something the public respects, but leave little room for a further drop if Americans continue to perceive Congress鈥� activities negatively,鈥� writes Gallup editor in chief Frank Newport.