As I noted on Friday, President Obama’s approval numbers hit a milestone in the sense that they dipped below 50% for the first time.
Over the past two days, it’s become clear that at least part of the reason for that downfall may be the Wednesday press conference that turned more into a discussion of a minor police incident in Massachusetts than Obama’s health care plan.
First, on Saturday, Rasmussen reported that it’s tracking poll, which by then included two post-press conference calling cycles, showed that Obama’s negative numbers went up in the days after the press conference:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that 30% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-nine percent (39%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -9.
The number who Strongly Disapprove of the President has increased slightly following the prime time press conference on Wednesday night. That figure—39%–is now at the highest level yet recorded. As a result, the overall Approval Index has fallen to the lowest level yet recorded for this President. …
Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance. This is the second straight day that his overall approval rating has been below 50% among Likely Voters nationwide. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove. See recent demographic highlights from the Presidential Tracking Poll. For more measures of the President’s performance, see Obama By the Numbers.
These updates are based upon nightly telephone interviews and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. More than two-thirds of the interviews for today’s update were completed after the President’s nationally televised press conference on Wednesday night. The first update based entirely upon interviews conducted after the press conference will be released on Sunday.
And the results from today show that Obama’s negatives continue to increase:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 29% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11. That’s the first time his ratings have reached double digits in negative territory (see trends).
These updates are based upon nightly telephone interviews and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. Today is the first update based entirely upon interviews conducted after the President’s prime time televised press conference. The number who Strongly Approve of the President has remained unchanged since the press conference but the number who Strongly Disapprove has gone up by five percentage points (from 35% on Wednesday morning to 40% today).
One of the main reasons for this may be the negative response to the President’s response to a question about the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates in Cambridge last week:
Twenty-six percent (26%) of voters nationwide say President Obama did a good or excellent job answering a press conference question about an incident involving a white Cambridge, Massachusetts policeman and a black Harvard professor. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 46% rate the president’s response as poor.
While it’s unclear how much the President’s response to the Gates question is playing in the mind of the public right now, it’s pretty clear that it didn’t help.
August 2nd, 2009 at 2:46 am
If you believe any poll that Rasmussen puts out you might as well believe in Santa Klaus.
Rasmussen is well known for it’s providing Republicans with the best polling that money can buy.
From widipedia:
Scott Rasmussen was a paid consultant for the 2004 George W. Bush campaign. Rasmussen presidential polling numbers tend to be an outlier among samples taken from other polling organizations. Others have pointed out that the reason Rasmussen’s polls trend more Republican than other mainstream polls is simply that he samples likely voters. [11] John Marshal of Talking Points Memo has said, “The toplines tend to be a bit toward the Republican side of the spectrum, compared to the average of other polls. But if you factor that in they’re pretty reliable. Networks such as MSNBC simply do not use Rasmussen polls. Conversely, conservative media frequently refers to Rasmussen, praising them for being the first to ask about a relevant issue or to ask questions that other polsters do not.