PrintAugust 23, 2009
Rasmussen: Obama Hits new Low (updated)
Two new lows, actually. Today, Rasmussen reports that the president's Approval Index (the number of likely voters who strongly approve of his performance, minus those who disapprove) has fallen to -14. That's two points below his previous low of -12, set on July 30.
The percentage of likely voters who Strongly Approve of Obama's performance, 27%, also marks a new low and that's not all. As Rasmussen notes:
Prior to today, the number who Strongly Approved of the President's performance had never fallen below 29%. Some of the decline has come from within the President's own party. Just 49% of Democrats offer such a positive assessment of the President at this time. [emphasis added]
Surely, the health care issue (pickle? debacle?) accounts at least partly for the Democrats' anemic thumbs-up. But because these are Democrats, it is interesting to contemplate whether the president's increasingly weak standing within his own party is stems from liberals' frustration that the so-called public option has hit a brick wall, or from moderates' dissatisfaction with the plan itself.
Or maybe, increasingly, like the rest of us, they're just not that into him.
Update - C. Edmund Wright adds:
The loss of Democrat support is interesting as the loss of Republican and conservative support was why George Bush's approval numbers stayed in the 20's near the end of his term. The Bush response, assuming all loss of support was due to him being too conservative, was to go even more moderate and thus his numbers continued to tank. In a country that is more conservative than liberal, this was the exact wrong prescription.
Certainly a few points of this Obama plunge comes from the liberal wing of his party upset over the "public option" trial balloon. It will be interesting to see how Team Obama interprets this and what they do to try and solve it.
At the other end of the spectrum, today’s total for Strongly Disapprove matches the highest level yet recorded. The 41% mark was reached just once before and that came one week ago today. Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans now Strongly Disapprove along with 49% of those not affiliated with either major party.
The 49% of the independents who now "strongly disapprove" is a stunning figure. I think it demonstrates a number of things, including Obama, Axelrod, Pelosi, Reid et al believing that the 2008 election was a mandate to go hard left. It also shows the ineffectiveness of an "honorable McCain Campaign" that refused to point out what many of us knew -- which is just how radical a government we would have with Obama in the White House and big majorities for the Democrats in congress. The country is getting a taste of it, and not liking it.
Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) now disapprove.
Of the priorities outlined by the President earlier this year, 40% of voters say cutting the deficit is most important. Twenty-one percent (21%) believe health care should be the top objective. While deficit reduction is seen as the most important, 67% say it is the least likely to be achieved.
Those priorities show just how tone deaf this administration is, as they continue to spend money and emphasize their health care reform as priority one.
Update from Robert White:
Every day, Rasmussen polls 500 randomly selected likely voters all over the country in ratios based on current percentages of Republicans and Democrats. The pollsters ask the polled people whether they strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove or strongly disapprove of the President's performance.
This poll has been in place long before Obama. Indeed, when President Bush left office after more than eight years of attacks by the mainstream media, the Democratic Party, Hollywood, academia and a slew of authors, he was at negative 30 points on the strong opinions and negative 40 points overall. the only outgoing Presidents in modern history with lower numbers were Harry Truman and Richard Nixon.
Two days after his inauguration, President Obama was at positive 30 points on the strong opinions and positive 35 points overall. Then, the group who strongly approved represented 69% of the total approval group whereas the group who strongly disapproved represented only 48% of the total disapproval group.
Today's Rasmussen "Daily Presidential Tracking Poll" has Obama at negative 14 points on the strong opinions and negative 2 points overall. Today, the group who strongly approved represented only 56% of the total approval group whereas the group who strongly disapproved represented 80% of the total disapproval group.
This shift in public opinion, over a seven month period, represents a drop of 44 points among those with strong opinions and an overall drop of 37 points. Additionally, it represents a shift of 45 points away from the President among those with strong opinions.
Since those elements of society who attacked Bush so vociferously throughout his presidency (with a brief reprieve after the 911 attacks and a massive ramp-up after Hurricane Katrina) are still squarely in President Obama's corner, FOXNEWS stay as close to center as they can, and talk radio tends to reach only those who already agree with conservative positions, one must assume that this precipitous drop is the result of discontent among Americans for the policies, words and actions of the President and his party. Therefore, the policies need to shift to comport with the generally conservative positions of the people or the President's numbers will continue to decline. If he drops another ten points, he will be ineffectual, which will be good for the country; and, ironically, may be the only chance he has for a second term.
Update - C. Edmund Wright adds:
The football season is upon us -- and in the spirit of the season -- our President's net approval ratings have fallen behind by two full touchdowns according to Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
The loss of Democrat support is interesting as the loss of Republican and conservative support was why George Bush's approval numbers stayed in the 20's near the end of his term. The Bush response, assuming all loss of support was due to him being too conservative, was to go even more moderate and thus his numbers continued to tank. In a country that is more conservative than liberal, this was the exact wrong prescription.
Certainly a few points of this Obama plunge comes from the liberal wing of his party upset over the "public option" trial balloon. It will be interesting to see how Team Obama interprets this and what they do to try and solve it.
At the other end of the spectrum, today’s total for Strongly Disapprove matches the highest level yet recorded. The 41% mark was reached just once before and that came one week ago today. Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans now Strongly Disapprove along with 49% of those not affiliated with either major party.
The 49% of the independents who now "strongly disapprove" is a stunning figure. I think it demonstrates a number of things, including Obama, Axelrod, Pelosi, Reid et al believing that the 2008 election was a mandate to go hard left. It also shows the ineffectiveness of an "honorable McCain Campaign" that refused to point out what many of us knew -- which is just how radical a government we would have with Obama in the White House and big majorities for the Democrats in congress. The country is getting a taste of it, and not liking it.
Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) now disapprove.
Of the priorities outlined by the President earlier this year, 40% of voters say cutting the deficit is most important. Twenty-one percent (21%) believe health care should be the top objective. While deficit reduction is seen as the most important, 67% say it is the least likely to be achieved.
Those priorities show just how tone deaf this administration is, as they continue to spend money and emphasize their health care reform as priority one.
Update from Robert White:
Every day, Rasmussen polls 500 randomly selected likely voters all over the country in ratios based on current percentages of Republicans and Democrats. The pollsters ask the polled people whether they strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove or strongly disapprove of the President's performance.
This poll has been in place long before Obama. Indeed, when President Bush left office after more than eight years of attacks by the mainstream media, the Democratic Party, Hollywood, academia and a slew of authors, he was at negative 30 points on the strong opinions and negative 40 points overall. the only outgoing Presidents in modern history with lower numbers were Harry Truman and Richard Nixon.
Two days after his inauguration, President Obama was at positive 30 points on the strong opinions and positive 35 points overall. Then, the group who strongly approved represented 69% of the total approval group whereas the group who strongly disapproved represented only 48% of the total disapproval group.
Today's Rasmussen "Daily Presidential Tracking Poll" has Obama at negative 14 points on the strong opinions and negative 2 points overall. Today, the group who strongly approved represented only 56% of the total approval group whereas the group who strongly disapproved represented 80% of the total disapproval group.
This shift in public opinion, over a seven month period, represents a drop of 44 points among those with strong opinions and an overall drop of 37 points. Additionally, it represents a shift of 45 points away from the President among those with strong opinions.
Since those elements of society who attacked Bush so vociferously throughout his presidency (with a brief reprieve after the 911 attacks and a massive ramp-up after Hurricane Katrina) are still squarely in President Obama's corner, FOXNEWS stay as close to center as they can, and talk radio tends to reach only those who already agree with conservative positions, one must assume that this precipitous drop is the result of discontent among Americans for the policies, words and actions of the President and his party. Therefore, the policies need to shift to comport with the generally conservative positions of the people or the President's numbers will continue to decline. If he drops another ten points, he will be ineffectual, which will be good for the country; and, ironically, may be the only chance he has for a second term.
