Obama Job Approval Dips Below 60% for First Time

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

PRINCETON, NJ -- For the first time since Gallup began tracking Barack Obama's presidential job approval rating on Jan. 21, fewer than 60% of Americans approve of the job he is doing as president. In Feb. 21-23 polling, 59% of Americans give Obama a positive review, while 25% say they disapprove, and 16% have no opinion.

To date, Obama has averaged 64% approval, but, as the graph shows, there has been a slight but perceptible decline in his approval rating since he took office. This decline has largely occurred among Republicans.

The drop below 60% approval within the past week -- from 63% in Feb. 18-20 polling to 59% in Feb. 21-23 polling -- has mostly come among independents. Late last week, 62% of independents approved of Obama, compared with 54% in the last three days. His approval rating among Democrats has dipped slightly (but not to a statistically significant degree), while approval among Republicans has not changed.

While Obama's overall approval rating has fallen by four percentage points in recent days (from 63% in Feb. 18-20 polling to the current 59%), his disapproval rating has been steady (24% in Feb. 18-20 polling to the current 25%). Rather, the percentage of Americans without an opinion of his job performance has increased, from 13% to 16%. In essence, Americans in recent days are becoming increasingly unsure about how Obama is doing, rather than becoming more critical.

As the table suggests, most of the movement among independents in recent days has been from the approval to the no opinion category. And his disapproval rating has dropped among Republicans, with a concomitant increase in no opinion. Thus, Americans' assessments of Obama are in a period of flux.

Given that Obama is addressing the nation tonight, he has a tremendous opportunity to convert Americans who are now on the fence -- in addition to those who now disapprove of him -- into supporters. The latest USA Today/Gallup poll shows Americans are most interested in hearing about economic matters, particularly how Obama will address unemployment, the mortgage crisis, and how the economic stimulus package will be administered.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/116077/Obama-Jo...First-Time.aspx

[spookyturtle 9,465]

I guess it's all over now. He's failed. Happy now?

[Danno 1,228]

Just like puppies.... sooner or later the people will get their eyes open.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Just like puppies.... sooner or later the people will get their eyes open.

And more words of wisdom from the VJ America hater. Why do you want the counrty to fail? It's very anti- American and most un-patriotic. You two should be ashamed of yourselves.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

You two should be ashamed of yourselves.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

You two should be ashamed of yourselves.

You should be. It's on you not me. And do your homework Einstein, I wasn't an Obama supporter.

[HAL 9000 96]

Yawn.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

You should be. It's on you not me. And do your homework Einstein, I wasn't an Obama supporter.

I can vouch for that. Spooks and I butted horns on more than one occasion.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

You should be. It's on you not me. And do your homework Einstein, I wasn't an Obama supporter.

I can vouch for that. Spooks and I butted horns on more than one occasion.

Quite true. You don't hear any bashing from me now. I support him and this administration. I want him to succeed. I hope he is the best President we ever had. If he does a good job, that should help the majority of us, and that is a good thing. I think to wish failure on him and the Democrats is anti- American. May as well be a terrorist. Again, I have no problems with disagreeing with him, but there are a few on this forum who would love to see him fail and take the country with him. Treason.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Yawn.

[Yoink 7]

I am actually mad that american idol isn't on tonight because of more political rambling.

is anyone really surprised by anything coming out of anyones mouths this last month?

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Yawn.

But enough to captivate your interest.

[HAL 9000 96]

You should be. It's on you not me. And do your homework Einstein, I wasn't an Obama supporter.

I can vouch for that. Spooks and I butted horns on more than one occasion.

Quite true. You don't hear any bashing from me now. I support him and this administration. I want him to succeed. I hope he is the best President we ever had. If he does a good job, that should help the majority of us, and that is a good thing. I think to wish failure on him and the Democrats is anti- American. May as well be a terrorist. Again, I have no problems with disagreeing with him, but there are a few on this forum who would love to see him fail and take the country with him. Treason.

Not even if you supported him or not... and I clearly remember your critiques of Obama on the campaign trail...

It is completely insane to desire one's own nation to collapse... for someone to fail at fixing what the previous head of state f*cked up is quite insane indeed.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Only because nobody is playing Scrabble.

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

You should be. It's on you not me. And do your homework Einstein, I wasn't an Obama supporter.

I can vouch for that. Spooks and I butted horns on more than one occasion.

Quite true. You don't hear any bashing from me now. I support him and this administration. I want him to succeed. I hope he is the best President we ever had. If he does a good job, that should help the majority of us, and that is a good thing. I think to wish failure on him and the Democrats is anti- American. May as well be a terrorist. Again, I have no problems with disagreeing with him, but there are a few on this forum who would love to see him fail and take the country with him. Treason.

too bad that line of thought wasn't applied to gwb.