Obama hits rock bottom in latest Gallup poll

A floundering presidency heading for a fall? Barack Obama hits rock bottom in latest Gallup poll

Nile Gardiner
Telegraph.co.uk
April 15th, 2011

The latest Gallup Daily tracking three-day average represents a new low for Barack Obama, with just 41 percent of Americans approving his job performance as president. This matches his previous lows in August 2010 and October 2010, just before the mid-term elections, and it is significantly down from his 2011 average of 48 percent. The president’s disapproval rating now stands at 50 percent, the highest point since August last year. In contrast, George W. Bush’s approval rating at this stage of his presidency stood at 70 percent (April 2003), and the average for US presidents in the ninth quarter stands at 57 percent.

Disconcertingly for the White House, his ratings have plummeted among independents, from an average of 44 percent in 2011 to just 35 percent this week, devastating figures if translated at the ballot box in 2012, where securing the independent vote will be vital. Even among Democrats, support for the president is now running at just 77 percent, down four points from the 2011 average, and down seven points from the average for 2009-11.

As Gallup points out, Obama is now as unpopular as he has been at any stage of his presidency:

President Obama is now as unpopular as he has been at any time since he became president. He faces difficult challenges ahead in trying to improve the economy and get the federal budget deficit under control, and must do so with Republicans in control of the House. His ability to navigate these challenges will help determine whether he will be elected to a second term as president. Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton all were similarly unpopular at this stage of their presidencies, but the last two were able to turn things around in time to win a second term in office.

The latest Gallup figures are even worse than the most recent Quinnipiac University national poll released at the end of March, which tracked Obama at just 42 percent approval. As I noted in a previous piece, President Obama receives strong negativity ratings for his handling of virtually all key issues, including the economy, budget deficit, health care, foreign policy and energy policy:

According to Quinnipiac, on the economy 60 percent of Americans disapprove of his performance, including more than a quarter of Democrats. That figure rises to 64 percent on the budget deficit. On health care, less than 40 percent of Americans back the president, with 55 percent opposing. On foreign policy, 47 percent disapprove of his handling, compared to just 41 percent in favour, with only two in five Americans approving of his leadership of the Libya issue.

And if his heavily panned performance this week on the budget deficit is anything to go by, it is unlikely that the president’s ratings will be significantly improving anytime soon. Barack Obama faces an increasingly disillusioned electorate which, as the latest RealClear Politics average of polls shows, overwhelmingly believes the country is heading down the wrong track. With deep-seated fears over the economy, including towering levels of federal debt, dominating voter concerns, the Obama presidency seems destined for another fall, perhaps on an even bigger scale than the setback the Left suffered last November.

In sharp contrast to his Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton, who did survive low ratings in his third year to ultimately win a second term, Obama is drifting further to the left rather than the political centre, a move which will only further alienate independents who moved decisively against him in the mid-terms. And as for comparisons with Ronald Reagan, who also recovered from low approval ratings to bounce back in 1984, the Gipper was simply in a different league to Barack Obama, displaying the kind of decisive, principled leadership that is sorely lacking in the White House today.

To hear our press talk day in and day out in the last week, you'd swear everything was peachy-keen.

Bullshit. This guy is a cancer on this country. I'm officially sick of this man. Everyone says that the solution is always in the middle. Well, someone tell this fraud that.

TexasBlue wrote:To hear our press talk day in and day out in the last week, you'd swear everything was peachy-keen.

Bullshit. This guy is a cancer on this country. I'm officially sick of this man. Everyone says that the solution is always in the middle. Well, someone tell this fraud that.

I was disgusted with this President nearly from day one. He promised to end earmarks then jammed through the so-called "stimulus bill" in the dark of night with over 9,000 earmarks in it. He promised the most transparent Administration and government in our history and has since presided over the most opaque government in my memory. He promised to put all legislation on line available for all citizens to review for 5 days, then slammed through the "health care reform bill" again in the dark of night and before anyone, even the damn legislators voting on it, could read the thing! (Remember Pelosi's infamous "you'll have to pass it to see what's in it remark.) Unable to get his "cap-and-tax" legislation through even a Democratically controlled Congress, he has begun to enforce this law through administrative fiat via the EPA!

He is the most dishonest, mean-spirited, and ill-intentioned President in this nation's history. He has zero interest in constitutional republicanism, free-market capitalism, individual freedom or personal responsibility. There is not a single redeeming quality about the man.

Obama's job approval rating right now is 51% to 41% disapproval. This is what conservatives call "in the tank"???? Further, Reagan, at this point of his daunted presidency, had an approval rating of 39%. Facts are facts - that is, of course, unless you're only looking at FOX not-news or the Rasmussen polls. Scott Rasmussen is a paid contributor to FOX and virtually every poll he or FOX produces is sharply skewed to the right when contrasted to all the other major polling tools. BTW, the above quoted poll is Gallup, which is middle-of-the-road consistently.

Editing the subject line isn't allowed.

crystalbay wrote:Obama's job approval rating right now is 51% to 41% disapproval. This is what conservatives call "in the tank"???? Further, Reagan, at this point of his daunted presidency, had an approval rating of 39%. Facts are facts - that is, of course, unless you're only looking at FOX not-news or the Rasmussen polls. Scott Rasmussen is a paid contributor to FOX and virtually every poll he or FOX produces is sharply skewed to the right when contrasted to all the other major polling tools. BTW, the above quoted poll is Gallup, which is middle-of-the-road consistently.

Editing the subject line isn't allowed.

The "facts" are that if the election were held tomorrow, there isn't a single one of the Republican candidates that wouldn't beat Obama in a landslide. This President has done such a piss-poor job with the economy that he wouldn't stand a chance if the Republican's ran an actual elephant. A fence post could have done a better job at managing the economy - mostly because a fence post would not have enacted any measures to "solve" our recession; and that would have been far better than what Obama has done.

Well, since I made my first post on this site, his approval ratings have swelled to 60%. Two thirds of Independents are now supporting him.
Your assertion that "any Republican could beat him" is absolutely and totally false. That is unless you're only following right wing rags. He is the strongest leader of the free world in decades. Your admission that he "made you sick" from day one says it all. That you took such a rigid, biased position "from day one" tells me that you're an --COMMENT DELETED--. There is not ONE Republican candidate with a fraction of the integrity, intelligence, or quality of the man now in the White House.

crystalbay, please re-read the rules of the board, with special attention to #2.

https://superiorpolitics.forumotion.com/t10-the-rules-of-the-forum-please-read#10

2. Disagree, but be respectful to each other.

-kronos

crystalbay wrote:Well, since I made my first post on this site, his approval ratings have swelled to 60%. Two thirds of Independents are now supporting him.

Care to cite the source of this claim? I have a GALLUP POLL that shows this to be an entirely false claim.

crystalbay wrote:Your assertion that "any Republican could beat him" is absolutely and totally false. That is unless you're only following right wing rags.

I guess we shall see next year, shan't we?

crystalbay wrote:He is the strongest leader of the free world in decades. Your admission that he "made you sick" from day one says it all. That you took such a rigid, biased position "from day one" tells me that you're an --COMMENT DELETED--. There is not ONE Republican candidate with a fraction of the integrity, intelligence, or quality of the man now in the White House.

You are quite right... there's isn't ONE Republican candidate - there are MANY Republican candidates that have more integrity, intelligence and quality in their pinky fingers than Obama will ever possess! Obama had absolutely ZERO executive experience, ZERO private-sector experience (I don't think he ever held an honest job in his life), and some of the most deplorable associations of just about any politician in this nation's history! He makes Aaron Burr look like a boyscout! Please, enumerate for me any of Obama's redeeming qualities. I would love to see this.