No, this isn't about the economy or any kind of historic economic disaster like the Great Depression. I guess one could call this a great depression, but again, it's not about economics. What I'm speaking of is Obama's approval rating. It seems as it continues downward, it's picking up momentum. According to all the latest polls, Obama's approval ratings are crashing.
According to the Gallup Poll, Obama's approval rating fell from 51% when their latest POLL published on August 26, 2009 to 50%. Gallup said if Obama's approval rating falls below 50% before November, this will have been the third fastest decline below majority approval since World War II. The other two presidents are Gerald Ford, who fell below the halfway mark in his third month, and Bill Clinton when it took four months.
The latest RASMUSSEN POLL published September 3, 2009, shows that only 28% of voters Strongly Approve of the job Obama is doing. It shows that 39% of voters Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a -11 Presidential Approval Index. The last time I posted Obama's ratings on August 21, 2009, it was -8. Here's more bad news for the Obama administration: 68% believe that passage of Obamacare will increase the deficit; 47% believe their taxes will go up by the end of Obama's term which is the highest total yet (more and more are seeing the light!); 53% disapprove of the job Obama's doing with 47% saying they at least somewhat approve. Let's not leave out Congress: 51% of the nation's voters think Congress is too liberal, while only 22% think it's too conservative. (How in the world can anyone think Congress is too conservative?)
Now for ZOGBY: according to their poll taken August 28-31, 2009, Obama's approval rating is 42%, with 48% disapproving. Obama has lost ground with some Democrats too. Between July 21-24, 2009 and this latest poll, Democrats' approval of Obama's performance has dropped from 88% to 75%, liberals in general from 95% to 86%, 18-29 year-olds from 59% to 41%, and African-Americans from 83% to 74%.
Below are the results from some other major polls as published on REAL CLEAR POLITICS.
President Obama Job Approval
| Poll | Date | Sample | Approve | Disapprove | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RCP Average | 8/20 - 9/2 | -- | 53.2 | 41.5 | +11.7 |
| Gallup | 08/31 - 09/02 | 1547 A | 55 | 39 | +16 |
| Rasmussen Reports | 08/31 - 09/02 | 1500 LV | 47 | 53 | -6 |
| CNN/Opinion Research | 08/28 - 08/31 | 1010 A | 53 | 45 | +8 |
| Ipsos-McClatchy | 08/27 - 08/31 | 903 RV | 56 | 40 | +16 |
| CBS News | 08/27 - 08/31 | 1097 A | 56 | 35 | +21 |
| Pew Research | 08/20 - 08/27 | 2003 A | 52 | 37 | +15 |
And now look at Congress's job approval ratings:
The Obama administration must be in panic mode right now as well as the Democrats generally. There is absolutely no good news whatsoever, and on Zogby's site there are a couple of commenters I saw that voted for Obama that no longer support him. With these numbers, there has to be a lot of people included in the disapproving ranks that voted for Obama. Just casual observation on my part, hardly a scientific indicator, I'm seeing far fewer Obama stickers on cars around Atlanta than I did just 90 days ago. I see one occasionally now, and just three months ago I was still seeing a lot of them. I haven't heard anyone in passing conversation at work or around town say anything about having voted for him. Considering the continued trend nationally, I think 2010 is shaping up to be a very interesting, and likely disastrous year for the Democrats, especially considering the Democrat majority Congress can't seem to get their approval ratings anywhere within a country mile of fifty percent.
