WASHINGTON - President Bush's standing with the public has eroded as Americans have become increasingly concerned about postwar Iraq and the economy at home, polls suggest.

 Bush is at a crossroads about 13 months before voters decide whether to give him a second term, say pollsters and experts on public opinion.

Half of Americans, 49 percent, name the economy and jobs as the issues they most want to hear the presidential candidates talk about, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

That's higher than levels in the past two presidential campaigns and nearly as high as in October 1991, when 58 percent felt that way. Bush's father lost his re-election bid in 1992.

The increased focus on the economy comes at a time the current president is seeing some of the lowest approval ratings of his presidency.

"We are at a juncture where the Democrats look like they have much more of a chance in the next election than they did a couple of years ago," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center.

Other surveys released this week show the president's standing in the mid-50s — 55 percent in the Pew poll and 54 percent in a Battleground 2004 poll.

In September 1991, Bush's father was at 66 percent in the Gallup poll, but by the beginning of the next year his job approval had dipped below 50 percent and he lost his re-election bid.

Although the current President Bush's stewardship of the fight against terrorism has boosted his ratings, any perception that U.S. involvement in Iraq is undermining the effort to combat terrorism could undercut Bush's support.

"Without the issue of terrorism, the president would be in much worse shape," said Robert Shapiro, a political scientist at Columbia University who specializes in public opinion. "The objective measure people have is that there haven't been any terrorist events at home."

Almost two-thirds still say they support the decision to use military force in Iraq. But with U.S. casualties mounting and no end in sight to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, a majority of people question whether Bush has a plan for successfully resolving the situation.

"If people begin to see Iraq as not furthering the war on terrorism, but hurting the war on terrorism, the issue that has kept his ratings up could be severely weakened," said pollster Andrew Kohut.

A survey last spring found that most respondents said the war in Iraq had reduced the risk of terrorism in the United States. That is no longer the case. An ABC News poll earlier this month found that, by a 48 percent to 40 percent margin, more Americans say the Iraq war has increased the risk of terrorism in this country.

GOP pollster Ed Goeas noted the latest Battleground 2004 poll suggests that Bush is very popular and trusted in fighting the war on terror. But he noted that six in 10 in the Battleground poll said it would take a drop in unemployment to convince them the economy is improving.

"He's not making his father's mistakes," Democrat pollster Celinda Lake said, referring to Bush's constant talk about his economic plans. In 1991, many thought his father was out of touch with the nation's economic problems.