from Quinnipiac:

American voters disapprove 48 – 42 percent of the job President Barack Obama is doing and say 50 – 41 percent he does not deserve to be re-elected in 2012, both all-time lows, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

This compares to a 46 – 46 percent job approval rating and a 45 – 47 percent split on the President’s re-election in a March 3 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. In a hypothetical 2012 matchup, President Obama gets 36 percent of the vote to 37 percent for an unnamed Republican challenger.

Democrats approve 80 – 13 percent of the job Obama is doing, but disapproval is 81 – 9 percent among Republicans and 50 – 39 percent among independent voters. Men disapprove 52 – 41 percent while women split 44 – 44 percent.

Voters oppose 47 – 41 percent America’s involvement in Libya. In the survey concluded Monday evening as President Obama was addressing the nation about Libya, voters say 58 – 29 percent that he has not clearly stated U.S. goals for Libya.

American voters give conflicting signals about U.S. involvement in Libya:

They approve 53 – 35 percent of using cruise missiles to destroy Libya’s air defense; They say 48 – 41 percent the U.S. should not use military force to remove Moammar Gadhafi from power; They say 65 – 27 percent the U.S. should use military force to protect civilians from Gadhafi.

“President Barack Obama’s approval numbers are at their lowest level ever, slightly below where they were for most of 2010 before he got a bump up in surveys after the November election and into the early part of this year,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“Some reasons for his overall numbers might be that Obama receives negative ratings on his handling of the budget deficit, the economy, foreign policy, health care and energy policy.”

American voters split 46 – 45 percent on whether protecting Libyan civilians from Gadhafi is a goal worth having U.S. troops “fight and possibly die.” And voters say 61 – 30 percent that removing Gadhafi is not worth having American troops “fight and possibly die.”

A total of 62 percent of voters are “very confident” or “somewhat confident” that the U.S. mission to protect Libyan civilians from Gadhafi will be successful.

But 74 percent of voters are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” that the U.S. will get embroiled in a long-term military conflict in Libya.

The pattern of political support for the president regarding Libya is somewhat different than with the war in Afghanistan, for which public support continues to deteriorate. Now, 50 percent of voters say the U.S. should not be involved in that conflict while 41 percent says it is the right thing to do.

“Republicans have been the strongest supporters of the Democratic president’s policy. Currently, 50 percent of Republicans, 38 percent of Democrats and 38 percent of independent voters support the effort in Afghanistan,” Brown said.

“On Libya, 48 percent of Democrats but only 40 percent of Republicans and 38 percent of independent voters voice support.”

From March 22 – 28, Quinnipiac University surveyed 2,069 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.