A new Washington Post/ABC poll finds a large disparity between the approval ratings of President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner on their handling of a deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff."

Obama's approval-to-disapproval split sits at 49-42 on the issue of handling the fiscal cliff. Boehner's approval rating is only 25 percent, and his disapproval mark stands at 49 percent.

The poll underscores the leverage Obama appears to have in the public debate as the fiscal-cliff negotiations enter their final few weeks before a Jan. 1 deadline. And it echoes a similar poll taken by Gallup a week ago, but this WaPo/ABC survey gives specific results for Boehner.

In the Gallup poll, voters approved of Obama by a 52-43 split. They gave Republicans in Congress only a 27 percent approval rating, while their disapproval rating sat at 63 percent.

The Washington Post/ABC poll found that the disparity between Obama and Boehner is largely due to Boehner's troubles with Independents and even his own party. Only 39 percent of Republicans approve of the job Boehner is doing, compared with 37 percent who disapprove. Among Independents, the split is 24-53.

Independents also disapprove of Obama's handling of the negotiations, but it's a much better 42-51 split. And the President's base is happy with him — 79 percent of Democrats approve.

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