Americans disapprove of the way President Bush is handling Social Security by a ratio of more than 2-to-1, a new low for the White House on its top domestic policy issue, according to the latest USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.

The poll, taken over the weekend, showed a steady erosion in the president's handling of Social Security since early February, when 43% approved. Now, 31% approve and 64% disapprove, the first time disapproval has risen above 60%.

Opposition to Bush is greatest among seniors, women, and people with lesser incomes and levels of education. Democrats disapprove by a ratio of more than 20-to-1, but Republicans back Bush's performance on the issue by a 2-to-1 ratio.

Bush has made overhauling Social Security a priority for his second term. He proposed in February that workers younger than 55 be allowed to divert some of their Social Security taxes to individual investment accounts. Then in April, he added a proposal to slow the growth of future benefits for upper-income workers, to help balance the system's books.

Democrats' opposition to Bush's Social Security plans appears to be driving public opinion. Democrats say Bush himself may be fueling the opposition by continuing to bring up the topic. "The more he talks about it, the worse it gets," says Karen Finney, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan says the president deserves credit for focusing attention on the serious financial problems facing Social Security in the future, when revenue from payroll taxes will not keep pace with benefits. By the middle of the century, the system will run out of surplus funds and will not be able to pay all the benefits promised to retirees.

"Social Security is a difficult issue to address. It would have been solved long ago if it were easy," McClellan says. "We're trying to work in a bipartisan way to get something done. Democratic leaders now admit there are problems, but they're refusing to put forth ideas for solving it."

The poll also showed:

. Opposition to Bush's plan for investment accounts is steady at 53%, despite repeated speeches and events by the president to promote the idea. The plan is favored by 44%. Bush would allow workers to invest part of their Social Security taxes in stocks and bonds.

. Americans trust Democrats on Social Security over Republicans, 47% to 34%.That's a small gain for Democrats since late April.

. Seven in 10 Americans say Bush has not been clear or specific enough about what he would do to fix Social Security. Nearly eight in 10 say the same thing about Republicans in Congress. More than eight in 10 say Democrats haven't been clear.

The poll of 1,009 adults taken Friday through Sunday has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.