Many posts have discussed the president's standing with the public. Jonathan Martin reports at The New York Times:
President Obama’s standing with Americans has slumped significantly, as the public remains skeptical about his health care law and unsure about the economy, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Forty-nine percent of the public disapproves of Mr. Obama’s job performance, and 43 percent approves, matching his worst measures in two years, the poll shows. Only 30 percent of Americans believe he cares “a lot” about their needs and problems, a figure that has fallen steadily from early in his first term.
Across the board — on foreign policy, including Syria and Iran; the economy; health care; and the federal budget deficit — more Americans disapprove than approve of the president’s performance.
Mr. Obama is being hurt by a public that has grown sour in the face of what people see as a stagnating economy: two-thirds of Americans say the country is on the wrong track, the highest number since early in 2012. And with Washington locked in yet another contentious debate over government spending, people are showing signs of exasperation about their elected leaders’ inability to reconcile their differences.Gallup reports:
Barack Obama's job approval rating among Democrats, his core supporters, has averaged 78% so far in September after being at or above 80% each month since December 2011, including a recent high of 91% in December 2012.
The 13-percentage-point decline in Democrats' approval rating for the president since last December exceeds the nine-point drop, from 53% to 44%, among all U.S. adults over the same time.
Democrats' approval rating of Obama has either declined or held steady each month this year. It last showed an increase in November 2012.
Obama's low point for monthly approval among Democrats is 77%, which he averaged from August through October 2011. Coincidentally, that was the last time the president and Congress tangled over the U.S. debt limit, similar to the scenario playing out in Washington today. The United States is set to default on its debt obligations as early as next month unless Congress passes a law to increase the amount the U.S. can legally borrow.Bloomberg reports:
As the U.S. heads toward a potential government shutdown or default, the public is more alienated from Washington than at any time since the aftermath of the 2011 downgrade of the nation’s credit rating.
President Barack Obama’s 47 percent favorability rating and the 34 percent positive reading for Republicans are the worst ever for both in the Bloomberg National Poll, which began in 2009. The 44 percent approval rating of the Democratic Party is at a two-year low.
Obama’s 45 percent job-approval rating is the lowest since September 2011, a month after a partisan showdown over lifting the debt ceiling brought the U.S. to the brink of default.
Americans also are pessimistic about the course of the country, with 68 percent saying it’s headed in the wrong direction, the most in two years, according to the poll of 1,000 adults conducted Sept. 20-23.
