By Ezra Klein, Wonk Blog @ Washingtonpost.com, Dec. 17, 2013

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll asked respondents whether they trust Obama or the Republicans in Congress to do a better job "coping with the main problems the nation faces over the next few years." Forty-one percent said they trusted Obama. Forty-one percent said they trusted Republicans in Congress.

A year ago, when pollsters asked the same question, Obama won 50 to 35. That he's now tied not just with Republicans, but with congressional Republicans two months after they shut down the government, shows how much damage the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act has done to perceptions of his administration's competence.

Obama's agenda has suffered in other ways, too. Voters now trust Republicans, 48-40, to pick the right mix of spending cuts. As recently as October, Obama led on that question 47-36 [....]