What's on the American voter's mind at the start of 2010?

The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters gives President Obama an approval index of -18 percent.

That figure is derived from subtracting the 24 percent of voters that strongly approve of the job that Obama is doing from the 42 percent that strongly disapprove.

In the same poll, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. 53 percent now disapprove.

The Gallup poll, of American adults 18 years and older, has Obama's current approval rating at 51 percent.

According to Gallup, Obama has averaged a 50 percent job approval rating in December. Ronald Reagan's average was 49 percent in the December of his first term and Bill Clinton's average was 53 percent. The average December approval rating of  presidents in their first term, beginning with Dwight Eisenhower and including Obama, is 63 percent.

Rasmussen indicates that 67 percent of likely voters believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction. The highest level in 2009.

Gallup says that Americans were more stressed and less happy in 2009.

According to Gallup, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is America's Most Admired Woman but barely edges out former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin this year, 16 percent to 15 percent..

Rasmussen polls show that 58 percent of voters are opposed to the current health care legislation and 39 percent are for it. 87 percent of voters that view the quality of health care as their main concern are opposed to the plan now before congress. Voters feel far more strongly than they have in over two years that legislation currently being debated in Congress would have a significant impact on their lives, and they’re well aware of which party is in charge.

The most recent Gallup poll has 76 percent of Democrats, 44 percent of Independents, and 13 percent of Republicans supporting the current health care legislation.

Rasmussen says that 79 percent of voters believe another terrorist attack is likely within the next year and 63 percent say political correctness prevented the military from responding to warning signs from Major Nidal Malik Hasan that could have prevented the Fort Hood shootings from taking place.

Most voters believe the massacre at Fort Hood, should be investigated by military authorities as a terrorist act rather than by civilian authorities as a criminal act.

58 percent say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.

Gallup conducted a poll Dec.11-13 in which Americans were asked, "What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?"

According to the poll, the five most important issues facing Americans are the economy, jobs, health care, dissatisfaction with government, and the Federal budget deficit. Only 3 percent of those polled said that education, terrorism, and the environment are the most important issues facing the country. Only 1 percent of respondents said that crime, national security, and energy/lack of energy resources were important problems.