As President Obama approaches his 200th day in office on Friday, several recent polls show that the downward trend in his approval rating is continuing.
First, the CNN poll shows that Obama’s approval rating has dropped seven points over the past 100 days:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — As President Obama approaches 200 days in the White House, a new national poll shows his approval rating has dropped seven points since the 100-day mark in April.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Thursday morning also indicates that while just one in five Americans say that the current economic conditions are good, the number who feel the economy is in very poor shape is dropping.
Fifty-six percent of those questioned in the poll approve of how Obama is handling his duties as president. Four in 10 disapprove.
The 56 percent approval is down five percentage points from June, and represents a drop of seven points from the president’s April showing. The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. figures are in line with numbers from most other national polls out the past few weeks. See the full results (pdf)
“Since April, Obama’s rating has stayed steady among white women, but he has dropped 14 points among white men. A majority of white men supported him at the 100-day mark, but now most white men disapprove of how he is handling his job,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “Obama has also slipped among non-whites, but he still gets support from over 70 percent of that group.”
Meanwhile the new Quinnipiac poll shows Obama has been hurt by his handling of the economy and health care:
After 199 days in office, President Barack Obama has a 50 – 42 percent job approval rating from American voters, down from 57 – 33 percent July 2 to its lowest level since Inauguration Day, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters disapprove 49 – 45 percent of the way the President is handling the economy and disapprove 52 – 39 percent of the way he is handling health care, but approve 52 – 38 percent of the way he is handling foreign policy.
Independent voters split 45 – 45 percent in their overall approval of President Obama, down from 52 – 37 percent in a July 2 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Republicans disapprove 77 – 16 percent, while Democrats approve 85 – 9 percent.
American voters disapprove 59 – 29 percent of the way Republicans in Congress are doing their job and trust Obama more than these Republicans 47 – 36 percent to fix the economy and 46 – 37 percent to handle health care.
Obama acted “stupidly” in the dispute between a black professor and a white police officer, American voters say 49 – 33 percent. White voters say 54 – 27 percent that he acted stupidly, while black voters disagree 61 – 16 percent. Hispanic voters split 42 – 43 percent.
The main reason for Obama’s drop is, quite clearly, the economy:
A total of 93 percent of voters describe the nation’s economy as “not so good” or “poor,” and only 28 percent say it is getting better, while 29 percent say it is getting worse and 41 percent see no change.
As long as that’s the case, President Obama will be on the defensive.
