WASHINGTON, April 26 (Xinhuanet) -- A wide-ranging survey published Tuesday suggested that US President George W. Bush is off to a difficult start in his second term, with a precipitous decline in support for the centerpiece of his Social Security planand drops in his performance ratings.

    Despite the fact that Bush and other administration officials have been stumping the country in a 60-day blitz to mobilize support for his Social Security reform plan, a bare majority, or 51 percent of the surveyed, opposed the plan, while 45 percent supported it, The Washington Post-ABC news poll showed.

    The key of the Social Security reform plan is to set up privateor personal accounts.

    The poll also registered drops in key Bush performance ratings,growing pessimism about the economy and continuing concern about US involvement in Iraq.

    Bush's overall job approval rating stood at 47 percent, matching his all-time low in Washington Post-ABC News polls. Half disapproved of the job he is doing as president.

    On several other key measures of performance, Bush's standing with the public was at or near new lows, with less than half of the public supporting the way he is handling the economy, energy policy and Iraq. Almost six in 10 said the United States has gotten bogged down in Iraq.

    Bush continues to get strong marks on his handling of the campaign against terrorism, with 56 percent supporting his actions,down five points since January. But the survey also found that thesluggish economy has eclipsed terrorism on the public's list of top priorities, fueling Bush's drop in the polls.

    On the issue of Social Security, which Bush has made the principal domestic priority of his second term, the poll found that three in 10 approved of the job he is doing, while 64 percentdisapproved, an eight-point increase in disapproval in a month. Only a third said they trust Bush more than the Democrats to handle the Social Security issue, a new low for the president.

    A total of 1,007 randomly selected adults took part in the pollconducted on April 21-24. The margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus three percentage points. Enditem