People Are Not Happy And Showing It: Obama Approval Rating Down

By Julie Smith on December 15, 2010, 12:06 pm

Much of the slippage in Obama’s approval rating from 42% on Dec. 1 was caused by a drop of nine percentage points among Democrats (82% to 73%). His approval also went down among independents, from 39% to 36%. Just 7% of Republicans approve. His approval was also 39% on Nov. 22.

Government Failures

The figures come as there are widespread assumptions that a string of government failures, including the failure to rein in the economic crisis in the US, the prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the high unemployment rate in the country have largely contributed to the slippage in Obama’s popularity rate.

Rating Down

The poll, taken after Obama announced a compromise plan with Congressional Republicans to extend Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans – including the wealthiest, show a loss of support from within his own party. Obama’s approval rating went down nine percentage points among Democrats, from 82 to 73 percent. Among independents, it fell from 39 percent to 36 percent. Only 7 percent of Republicans approve of the President.

Frustration With Tax Deal

Frustration with the tax deal among Democrats in the general population could be a major reason for Americans' historically low approval rating of Congress. That frustration could be opposition to the bill's particulars or frustration with the Democrats in Congress opposing the president's deal. Democrats' approval of Congress is down significantly, to 16% now, from 29% in November. The November poll was conducted after Republicans won control of the House of Representatives for 2011-2012 in the midterm elections, so the drop in this month's numbers is not a reaction to the Democrats' midterm losses.

 

Falling Short

There are two major places where the Republicans fall short that allow Obama to maintain leads over them. The first is with Democrats- only 71% of them approve of Obama, suggesting the ability for Republicans to make in roads there. And they did show some ability to do that in last month’s election- PPP’s final poll of the Senate race found Rob Portman taking 22% of the Democratic vote. None of these Republicans come anywhere close to matching that though- Huckabee and Palin take 11% of Democrats, Romney gets 10%, and Gingrich only 9%. Obama has some vulnerability with the more conservative wing of his party but at this point none of these GOP hopefuls are really in a position to take advantage of that.

Related posts:

1. Things Are Looking Up For The President: Obama’s Approval Rating Is Up
2. Midterm Numbers Don’t Look That Bad: Obama’s Approval Rating Steady
3. Obama Poll Support Going Down At Alarming Rate!
4. Obama Approval Rating: Any Lower And He Might End Up In A Sinkhole
5. Obama Approval Rating Improves Slightly: Not Nearly Enough