Obama job approval now below 50%

This comes via Gallup:

The latest Gallup Daily tracking results show 49% of Americans approving of the job Barack Obama is doing as president, putting him below the majority approval level for the first time in his presidency.

Do You Approve or Disapprove of the Job Barack Obama Is Doing as President?

Although the current decline below 50% has symbolic significance, most of the recent decline in support for Obama occurred in July and August. He began July at 60% approval. The ongoing, contentious debate over national healthcare reform has likely served as a drag on his public support, as have continuing economic problems. Americans are also concerned about the Obama administration’s reliance on government spending to solve the nation’s problems and the growing federal budget deficit. Since September, Obama’s approval rating had been holding in the low 50s and, although it has reached 50% numerous times, it had never dropped below 50% until now.

Of the post-World War II presidents, Obama now is the fourth fastest to drop below the majority approval level, doing so in his 10th month on the job. Gerald Ford dropped below 50% approval during his third month in office, and Bill Clinton did so in his fourth month. Ronald Reagan, like Obama, also dropped below 50% in his 10th month in office, though Reagan’s drop occurred a few days sooner in that month (Nov. 13-16, 1981) than did Obama’s (Nov. 17-19, 2009).

But all presidents except John Kennedy dropped below the majority approval level at some point in their presidencies, and all recovered after the first time below this mark to go back above 50% approval.

The full article is linked below. Good data for political historians.

Obama Job Approval Down to 49% – Gallup

See also It’s [Still] The Economy, Dumbass by Nate Silver and CNN Poll: Blame for recession shifting from GOP to Democrats

6 Comments
  1. Anonymous says

    Follows the dollar.

  2. LavrentiBeria says

    One needs look no further for the reasons for Obama’s decline than the kind of leadership he’s exerted on the Afghan War question:

    https://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2009/11/20/should-obama-fire-gen-mcchrystal/

    Consistently, in just about every area, he has been making – when he’s made them – the most disasterous decisions, many, some prospective, involving the economy that have been examined at length on this blog recently. The man ran the Harvard Law Review and, if you can believe it, he’s used the management style learned in that experience as the model for his presidency! He seems at times pitifully incapable of getting out in front of things. And now the paper mache that has to date decorated Obama’s public presentation has begun to come loose, and what is perceived underneath is the picture of the quintessential male of this era, weak, incapable of making committments, and with a moral sense courtesy of the Psychology Department. God help us.

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