More Americans say they disapprove of the way most of the U.S. political leaders have handled the financial crisis, a Gallup poll indicated Monday.

The Gallup poll was conducted before Sunday's announcement that negotiators from Congress and the Bush administration reached agreement on a $700 billion bailout plan. Both presidential candidates -- Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill. -- fared better than their party's congressional leaders for their responses to the Wall Street crisis.

Obama won the approval of 46 percent of Americans, compared with 39 percent approving of Democratic leaders in Congress, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said. Thirty-seven percent of Americans approve of how McCain has responded, compared with 31 percent approval of Republican congressional leaders.

Worst rated in the bailout negotiations were U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a main author of the original bailout plan, and U.S. President George Bush, results indicated. Only 28 percent of polling respondents said they approved of how Paulson and Bush responded.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews Friday and Saturday with 1,011 adults. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.