Saturday, March 7, 2009

Rasmussen Poll: Honeymoon ending quickly, Obama's approval rating to a low record

RasmussenReports' new daily tracking poll has President Barrack Obama receiving his lowest approval rating since immediately after the election, 56%. 43% of Americans generally disapprove of his performance, 31% strongly do.

Obama's approval rating was immediately after the election was 52%. As is typical after an election (according to longer-standing polls, such as Gallup), America put aside its partisan feelings, giving the newly elected the benefit of the doubt: his approvals rose to 67% over the course of the next month, peaking at 69%. They stayed in that range, which was high even for a newly elected president, until inauguration day.

Since his inauguration, Obama's presidential approval index (Rasmussen's measure of strong approval minus strong disapproval) plunged by nearly three quarters. Within a week, his approval rating reached 60%; It;s fluctuated slightly within each week, bouncing as high as 63%, but his weekly approval rating average has declined each week.

Each new low has occurred over a weekend; each midweek sees his approval ratings bounce slightly, so he may be slightly better off then 56%. A week ago, he polled at 58%.

Other presidents' approval ratings have surged in this time. President George W. Bush was inaugurated with approval ratings barely cracking 50%, but they surged to the mid-60s. Reagan's moved from the mid-50s to nearly 70%. George H.W. Bush's reached the high 70s. Clinton moved to the mid-60s; Kennedy and Carter also reached the 70s.

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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" (Churchill)