Obama's 47 Percent Approval Lowest of Any President at This Point

[Strix]

Obama's 47 Percent Approval Lowest of Any President at This Point

By Bill Sammon

President Obama's job approval rating has fallen to 47 percent in the latest Gallup poll, the lowest ever recorded for any president at this point in his term.

Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and even Richard Nixon all had higher approval ratings 10-and-a-half months into their presidencies. Obama's immediate predecessor, President George W. Bush, had an approval rating of 86 percent, or 39 points higher than Obama at this stage. Bush's support came shortly after he launched the war in Afghanistan in response to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said he doesn't "put a lot of stock" in the survey by Gallup, which has conducted presidential approval polls since 1938, longer than any other organization.

"If I was a heart patient and Gallup was my EKG, I'd visit my doctor," Gibbs said in response to questions from Fox. "I'm sure a six-year-old with a Crayon could do something not unlike that. I don't put a lot of stake in, never have, in the EKG that is daily Gallup trend. I don't pay a lot of attention to the meaninglessness of it."

Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport responded: "Gibbs said that if Gallup were his EKG, he would visit his doctor. Well, I think the doctor might ask him what's going on in his life that would cause his EKG to be fluctuating so much. There is, in fact, a lot going on at the moment -- the health care bill, the jobs summit, the Copenhagen climate conference and Afghanistan."

The new low comes as Obama struggles to overhaul the nation's health care system and escalates America's involvement in the Afghanistan war. He is also presiding over a deep and prolonged recession, with unemployment at 10 percent.

"There's no doubt Obama's 47 percent is mainly a result of the continuing bad economy," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "But there is also a growing concern about government spending and debt, and a sense that Obama is trying to do too much, too soon."

He added: "President Obama has reason to be concerned about his ratings. Even in tough times, presidents have usually been able to stay above the critical 50 percent mark in the first year, when the public is most inclined to give the new incumbent the benefit of the doubt."

Obama officials have not always shown disdain for Gallup. During last year's presidential campaign, Obama adviser David Plouffe, trumpeted "the latest Gallup poll" to reporters because it showed that 53 percent of Americans did not find Obama Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, "trustworthy."

When Gallup began taking presidential approval polls 71 years ago, Franklin Roosevelt had been president for more than five years. During his remaining time in office, his job approval rating never fell below 48 percent.

The next 11 presidents, both Democrats and Republicans, all had higher job approval ratings than Obama at this stage of their tenure. Their ratings were:

-- George W. Bush, 86 percent
-- Bill Clinton, 52 percent
-- George H.W. Bush, 71 percent
-- Ronald Reagan, 49 percent
-- Jimmy Carter, 57 percent
-- Gerald Ford, 52 percent
-- Richard Nixon, 59 percent
-- Lyndon Johnson, 74 percent
-- John Kennedy, 77 percent
-- Dwight Eisenhower, 69 percent
-- Harry Truman, 49 percent

The poll is an average of a three-day tracking of 1,529 adults taken Dec. 4-6. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

[Fate]

Well, if Bush had 86% at this point, Obama's looking at negative numbers sometime in the next three years.

[Tamas]

Well, if Bush had 86% at this point, Obama's looking at negative numbers sometime in the next three years.

Maybe the pants-burner terrorist was let through Amsterdam checks by the help of Obama's guys.  "hey, it did work for Dubya!"

[Razgovory]

I remember when low approval ratings were a sign of leadership.

[Eddie Teach]

Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and even Richard Nixon all had higher approval ratings 10-and-a-half months into their presidencies.

What a bizarre statement. Nixon was reelected in a landslide. It's like Sammon expects his readers to be expecting Watergate to affect those numbers.

[Barrister]

I remember when low approval ratings were a sign of leadership.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

yeah and Bush's approval rating only fell slightly after that point.

Nice to put out that stat pointing out that a few months after 9/11 Bush was riding high in approval . no shit.

and the President wading through the financial crisis he left us(by us I mean the world) with has a low rating? shocking?

I'd say the approval rating of a Head Of State when they are leaving office after 4 or 8 years is actually relevant, this one= stupider than The Bush twins on Robot Chicken.

[Razgovory]

I remember when low approval ratings were a sign of leadership.

There was a claim over the last decade that Bush's low approval rating was connected to his strong leadership.

[garbon]

yeah and Bush's approval rating only fell slightly after that point.

Nice to put out that stat pointing out that a few months after 9/11 Bush was riding high in approval . no shit.

and the President wading through the financial crisis he left us(by us I mean the world) with has a low rating? shocking?

I'd say the approval rating of a Head Of State when they are leaving office after 4 or 8 years is actually relevant, this one= stupider than The Bush twins on Robot Chicken.

Yeah, why care about how people feel about a president while in office.

[Eddie Teach]

and the President wading through the financial crisis he left us(by us I mean the world) with has a low rating? shocking?

Yeah, President Bush was forcing foreign banks to make bad loans... Jeeze.

[Valmy]

Yeah, President Bush was forcing foreign banks to make bad loans... Jeeze.

Well he did slash taxes and jack up spending making it really painful for the government to intervene in the crisis...and of course now the Republicans are complaining about the deficit...so running up huge deficits when the economy is strong and then cut spending when it is struggling is their strategy?  Reverse Keynesian economics...interesting...

[KRonn]

President Obama hates pollsters.....   

[OttoVonBismarck]

I don't feel that Obama took a huge hit because of his handling of the financial crisis.  I think there are many people who, if they've been paying close attention, realize that the Obama bailout was a horrific misuse of government funds and one of the worst decisions any President has made on the economic-side of things in a long time.  However, I think Obama successfully put a lot of the blame for the financial crisis on the previous administration.

I think Obama has lost his approval numbers for three reasons:

1.  The Health Care debate ended up finishing somewhere in the "weird middle."  I say "weird middle" because it's socialist enough that it's pissed off moderate conservatives but it's conservative enough that some of the looney left have jumped off the Obama bandwagon because there is no "public option."

2.  Obama decided to send more troops to Afghanistan.  This also pushed a lot of the members of the looney left off the Obama band wagon, including people of the Michael Moore cut.

3.  I think a not-insignificant number of people voted for Obama because they saw him as a "JFK" type President.  Meaning they felt he was going to be a "new beginning" for America and et cetera.  What these people have discovered is hey, Obama is a man.  A pretty smart one, but he's a politician who does what it takes to get elected, and getting reelected is his primary focus, not taking major stands on big issues.

Of course, history shows JFK had similar appeal and if you notice his administration was kind of a flop.

[DGuller]

Doesn't look good.  Even Truman and Reagan had two more points at this stage.

[katmai]

Doesn't look good.  Even Truman and Reagan had two more points at this stage.

Might as well resign and let Biden have a go!