By claiming ownership of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, President Barack Obama may stem criticism that he hasn't been sufficiently engaged. Avoiding political fallout from what may become the nation's worst environmental disaster will be more difficult. 'It really is a no-win situation,' said Democratic strategist Mike McCurry, who served as former President Bill Clinton's spokesman. 'The consequences environmentally could be dreadful and last for a long, long time.' And while Obama vowed that BP would 'pay every dime they owe for the damage,' the consequences from an ecological catastrophe could also ripple through the economy. In an hour-long White House news conference, Obama Thursday defended his actions so far, saying he and his administration made the spill 'our highest priority' immediately after BP's oil rig caught on fire on April 20 and collapsed. 'I had my team in the Oval Office that first day,' Obama said. 'Those who think that we were either slow on our response or lacked urgency don't know the facts.' Obama said it's his job to 'get this fixed,' adding, 'I take responsibility.' He suspended oil exploration in two areas off Alaska; canceled pending lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and those that were proposed off Virginia's coast; extended by six months a moratorium on deepwater drilling permits, and suspended operations at all 33 exploratory wells being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. He traveled Friday to the Gulf region for his second visit to Louisiana since the disaster began, but he has a way to go in reassuring the American public. In a USA Today/Gallup Poll, 53 percent of Americans said Obama has done a 'poor' or 'very poor' job handling the spill, compared with 43 percent who said he's done a 'very good' or 'good' job. The poll of 1,049 adults was taken May 24-25 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Republicans stepped up their attacks. 'The president under the law has a responsibility to act,' said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the House minority leader. It's 'clear the president has failed in his obligations to the American people to uphold the law.' Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who heads the Senate Republican Conference, cited the 1990 Oil Pollution Act, which he said requires presidents to ensure sufficient personnel and equipment are available to clean up oil spills. 'What was the president's cleanup plan and where were the personnel and equipment necessary to implement that plan?' Alexander said in a C-SPAN interview. Other Republicans such as strategist Karl Rove sought to draw parallels between Obama's response and that of former President George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005. The White House and Democratic allies rejected the comparison. And Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said Obama was likely mindful of that criticism when he faced the press Thursday. The president 'probably wanted to just catch up with it and say, `Look, I take full responsibility,' because otherwise his political enemies are attacking him for not doing anything,' Engel said. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., warned of the political peril ahead for the president. 'Once you have a massive blowout, there's no good solution,' he said. 'It doesn't matter who's president. And that's a hard thing for people to accept.' For now, the president's political standing, and the damage to the Gulf, may depend largely on BP's ability to stop the leak. The effort to block the well bore with mud, a procedure called 'top kill' began Wednesday. 'If top kill works, we will probably see today as a turning point that will probably staunch Obama's decline in public-approval ratings on his handling of this,' said Tom Mann, an analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington. 'It would allow the government to get involved in something they have some control over, namely the cleanup,' he said. McCurry agreed. 'The important thing is to have some kind of action plan moving forward and have an accountable voice from the administration,' he said. As a result of Obama's appearance Thursday, McCurry said, 'I think people will be saying: `You know, it looks like Obama is doing everything he can do.' But it sure would help them if BP got this thing capped.' With assistance from Kristin Jensen, Catherine Dodge, Nicholas Johnston and Lisa Lerer in Washington. 