President Barack Obama discusses the continuing budget talks Tuesday at the White House in Washington. (AP)

Disapproval of President Barack Obama has intensified, and Tennesseans are indicating that they are ready to throw their support behind any one of his main Republican rivals, a new poll by Middle Tennessee State University suggests.

Nearly two-thirds of Tennesseans say they disapprove of the way Obama is handling his job, up from 52 percent last spring, and the president's approval rating has plunged to 30 percent, the lowest since he took office in 2009.

With dissatisfaction over the economy high, Tennesseans said they were more likely to vote for any of the three top candidates for the Republican nomination - former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former restaurant executive Herman Cain. More Tennesseans also said they trust Republicans to create jobs, and they opposed Obama's proposal to raise taxes on wealthy households.

The results suggest Democrats may have a hard time competing next year in Tennessee, a state that they lost by a wide margin in the 2008 presidential election.

Continue reading at The Tennessean.