Ten months ago, Barack Obama was re-elected president. The margin in the popular vote was small, but Obama did win a majority. Now, at the start of his second term, Obama is losing all his support.
The best proof of Obama's decline comes from those polls that ask every day about whether or not the American voter approves of Obama's job performance. Clearly, these polls are not important on any particular day; the variations that result just from who happens to be selected for polling guarantee that. Nevertheless, the trends over time are very instructive. The Rasmussen poll of Obama's job performance is one measure that exists all the way back to the first day of the Obama presidency. In the latest numbers only 45% of voters approve of Obama's job performance while 54% disapprove. These are negative ratings much larger than anything Obama had seen during his second term. Worse still, however, is the measure of people who strongly support or strongly disapprove of Obama. Obama is now down to 21% of the electorate who offer strong approval of what he has been doing. That is the lowest number ever recorded by Obama in this poll. Fully 20% more folks strongly disapprove than strongly approve.
These numbers will undoubtedly bounce around as the weeks and months go by. Nevertheless, in Washington which lives and dies by polls the loss of support by the president is a killer blow. On top of this, the loss of support comes at the time that Obama needs to get his program passed by Congress if he is to accomplish anything during his second term. Most likely, these poll numbers mean that hope for Obama getting his way on the budget or deficit limits is getting smaller and smaller. Indeed, the Democrats' prospects for 2014 are also getting smaller and smaller.
The best proof of Obama's decline comes from those polls that ask every day about whether or not the American voter approves of Obama's job performance. Clearly, these polls are not important on any particular day; the variations that result just from who happens to be selected for polling guarantee that. Nevertheless, the trends over time are very instructive. The Rasmussen poll of Obama's job performance is one measure that exists all the way back to the first day of the Obama presidency. In the latest numbers only 45% of voters approve of Obama's job performance while 54% disapprove. These are negative ratings much larger than anything Obama had seen during his second term. Worse still, however, is the measure of people who strongly support or strongly disapprove of Obama. Obama is now down to 21% of the electorate who offer strong approval of what he has been doing. That is the lowest number ever recorded by Obama in this poll. Fully 20% more folks strongly disapprove than strongly approve.
These numbers will undoubtedly bounce around as the weeks and months go by. Nevertheless, in Washington which lives and dies by polls the loss of support by the president is a killer blow. On top of this, the loss of support comes at the time that Obama needs to get his program passed by Congress if he is to accomplish anything during his second term. Most likely, these poll numbers mean that hope for Obama getting his way on the budget or deficit limits is getting smaller and smaller. Indeed, the Democrats' prospects for 2014 are also getting smaller and smaller.
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