Washington ? As the Senate moves toward a major confrontation over judicial appointments, a strong majority of Americans oppose changing the rules to make it easier for Republican leaders to win confirmation of President Bush’s court nominees, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News Poll.

By a 2-1 margin, the public rejected easing Senate rules in a way that would make it harder for Democratic senators to prevent final action on Bush’s nominees. Even many Republicans were reluctant to abandon current Senate confirmation procedures: Nearly half opposed any rules changes, joining eight in 10 Democrats and seven in 10 political independents, the poll found.

The wide ranging survey also recorded a precipitous decline in support for the centerpiece of Bush’s Social Security plan — private or personal accounts — despite the fact that the president and other administration officials have been stumping the country as part of a 60-day blitz to mobilize support. The Post-ABC poll found that a bare majority — 51 percent — now oppose such accounts while 45 percent support them.

The poll also registered a drop in key Bush’s performance ratings, growing pessimism about the economy, and continuing concerns about U.S. involvement in Iraq.

A total of 1,007 randomly selected adults were interviewed by telephone April 21-24 for this Post-ABC News poll. Margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus 3 percentage points.