Poll: Obama approval rating dips further in two new surveys

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Two recent polls show that President Obama’s approval rating has fallen to a new low.

Recent entries from both Marist and Quinnipiac have shown the President receiving the worst marks of his Presidency, 46%, despite majority support for his military plans in Afghanistan and some improved economic forecasts of late. Both organizations also show Obama with a disapproval of 44% amongst registered voters.

These are the worst set of figures from a number of recently released surveys in early-December. Generally the President scores highest when the sample is broadened to adults, understandable since a far higher number of Democratic “leaners” tend to not be registered than Republicans. Even his numbers amongst sampled adults have been all over the map recently however. A recent Bloomberg poll shows Obama solidly in the majority with a 54-41% approval to disapproval rating. Gallup who also surveys adults currently places the President at a 50-45% margin after he had dropped to as low as 47-46% over the weekend. Ipsos/McClatchy has the President locked in at an even 49-49% split and CNN/Opinion Research figures from last week had Obama pulling in a negative 48-50% rating.

Rasmussen Reports has consistently shown the President to be weakest amongst likely voters. Obama’s approval rating has ranged between 46% and 50% over the past several weeks currently settling in at 48% with 52% disapproving of his job performance.

The Marist poll shows a sharp decline of seven-points in Obama’s approval rating from their last survey in October. Democratic support has fallen to 77%, just 12% of Republican’s approve of Obama with a plurality of independents now disapproving of the President by a margin of 44-41%. In regards to the expectations game just nine-percent of voters feel Obama has exceeded their assumptions. 44% think he has met expectations with 42% feeling the President has fallen short. Disturbingly for Obama in every category including strongly supportive groups such as liberals, Democratic women and younger voters more suggest the President has failed to meet expectations than exceeded them.

An almost identical number (48-47%) of those polled by Marist believe the country to be headed in the right and wrong direction respectively. President Obama receives a poor 45% rating for his handling of the economy, and a narrow 47-43% positive split in the number of those who approve of his handling of the war in Afghanistan. One bright spot in the poll for the President is the 55% who still view him favorably against just 41% who do not. This includes a 49-43% margin amongst independents, the primary source for Obama’s falling approval rating in recent weeks.

Quinnipiac results mirror those from Marist with some differences in their cross tabs. Obama has dropped another two points in his overall approval rating from their last poll and has struggled heavily with independents who now give him just a 37-51% margin of approval. Obama does better with Democrats and Republicans in the Quinnipiac survey than Marist but his handling of the economy in that poll (41-54%) is critiqued even harsher. The President also struggles a tad more on the topic of Afghanistan according to the Quinnipiac poll. The latter of the two surveys pits his current approval of the war at an even 45-45% margin.

One silver lining for Obama supporters may be the fact that even in midst of these difficult times the current President is not charting new territory for low first-year approval ratings. Gallup currently measures Obama’s December rating at 50%. That’s actually a point higher than Ronald Reagan’s December 1981 rating and just three points lower than Bill Clinton’s from December of 1993. Both Presidents entered office under difficult economic conditions and both easily won reelection three years later.

PHOTO CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS / GERLAD HERBERT