Even as President Obama's approval rating has plummeted across the nation, it was always sunnier in California. Until now.

For the first time since Obama became president in January 2009, fewer than half (46 percent) of California voters approve of his performance as president - a figure that's dropped eight percentage points in three months, according to a Field Poll survey of attitudes toward Obama released today.

The poll of 1,001 registered state voters was taken Sept. 1-12. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Nationally, 43.9 percent of respondents approve of Obama's job performance, according to an average of major polls by RealClearPolitics.com. Only 12.8 percent approve of the way Congress is doing its job, according to the site.

The Field Poll survey has no shortage of bad news for Obama in his once-safe political refuge where he captured 61 percent of the vote during his 2008 victory. Now, 68 percent of California voters believe that "things in the U.S. are seriously off on the wrong track" - up from 47 percent who felt that way shortly after Obama took office in March 2009.

Only 40 percent of the respondents approve of the way he's handling the economy, down from 61 percent in March 2009. On Tuesday, a day after his $450 billion jobs package was introduced to Congress, Obama traveled to the crucial swing state of Ohio to promote the plan. Today, he will campaign in North Carolina, another battleground state.

But in California, the most ominous Field Poll numbers came from those who previously supported him: Only 45 percent of independent voters approve of his job performance, down from 58 percent in June. Support from Democrats is also waning, dropping 10 percentage points (to 69 percent) since June.

"He's feeling the effects of what's going on across the country," said Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo. "What's sinking him is that most of the decline is among people of his own party and the nonpartisans."

While Obama's personal image ratings remain high at 55 percent, only 49 percent of California voters overall "are inclined" to re-elect him and 44 percent are not so inclined - up from 40 percent in June.

"They are seeing him as a man of goodwill, but increasingly, they are seeing him as ineffective," DiCamillo said.

California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro said Obama's personal appeal is separate from how voters increasingly view him as "out of ideas."

"Three years into his presidency, he still has not shown a clear path out of the economic situation we're in," Del Beccaro said. "People are tired of hearing his excuses - it's Bush's fault, it's the Japanese earthquake. He's not seen as very presidential."

But Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Obama's re-election campaign, said recent national polls show that Republicans are receiving low approval ratings, too.

"There's no doubt that Americans are demanding that the parties come together to take immediate action to provide economic security for the middle class, and that's exactly what the president is advocating for," LaBolt said.