October 15, 2010 7:59 PM
The President
As President Obama approaches his first mid-term election, the approval of the job he is doing, as well as personal feelings toward him, are in negative territory. His primary relevance in this campaign is that his Administration’s record is the fodder for Republican candidates as they take on their Democratic opponents.Since it is too late for him to overcome the substantive arguments that are being made by Republicans, the President has chosen to focus on a series of public and electronic events designed to stimulate that part of his 2008 base that is not likely to vote in this election.
And if Congressional Democrats do as badly as some are predicting, the President’s standing with the public will certainly be stated as one of the causes.
The President’s approval rating has been at or below 50% since the middle of the year.
| NBC/WSJ | NYT/CBS | WP/ABC | |
| Obama overall job approval (App / Dis) | |||
| October 2010 | xx | 45/45% (CBS) | 50/47% |
| September 2010 | 46/49% | xx | 46/52% |
| August 2010 | 47/48% | 48/44% (CBS) | -- |
| July 2010 | -- | -- | 50/47% |
| June 2010 | 45/48% | 47/43% | -- |
| March 2010 | 48/47% | 49/41% | 53/33% |
| February 2010 | -- | 46/45% | 51/46% |
| January 2010 | 48/43% | 50/40% | 53/44% |
| December 2009 | 47/46% | 50/39% | 50/46% |
| October | 51/42% | -- | 57/40% |
| September | 51/41% | 56/33% | 54/43% |
| August | 51/40% | -- | 57/40% |
| July | 53/40% | -- | 58/37% |
| June | 56/34% | 63/26% | 65/31% |
| April | 61/30% | 66/24% | 69/26% |
| February 2009 | 60/26% | 62/15% | 68/25% |
While President Obama’s current job approval ratings are not great, the average of 52% approval that he has received during his tenure to date far exceeds that of the Congress, which is at 26%, measured in surveys when both approval ratings were asked at the same time. [Gallup]
On the questions of whether Obama “has the personality and leadership qualities a President should have” and whether respondents agree with Obama on the issues that matter most to them, there has been a drop in the number who agree with these propositions.
| October 2010 | April 2010 |
|
| Qualities | ||
| Agree | 59% | 75% |
| Disagree | 40% | 24% |
| Issues that matter | ||
| Agree | 42% | 57% |
| Disagree | 55% | 41% |
| [CNN/OR
10/10] |
||
When matched against the approval ratings of the last 8 Presidents in October of the 2nd year of their initial terms in office, Obama continues in 7th place, just ahead of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. [Based on Gallup surveys.]
| Approve | Disapprove | |
| Kennedy | 63 | 25 (Oct.) |
| GW Bush (II) | 62 | 31 (Oct.) |
| Eisenhower | 61 | 26 (Oct.) |
| Nixon | 58 | 27 (Oct.) |
| Bush (I) | 56 | 33 (Oct.) |
| Carter | 49 | 36 (Oct.) |
| Obama | 46 | 48 (Oct.) |
| Reagan | 42 | 48 (Oct.) |
| Clinton | 41 | 52 (Oct.) |
Personal feelings about the President have declined, although they remain more positive than negative.
| Positive | Negative | |
| September 2010 | 47% | 41% |
| August 2010 | 46% | 41% |
| June 2010 | 47% | 40% |
| March 2010 | 50% | 38% |
| January 2010 | 52% | 35% |
| December 2009 | 50% | 30% |
| October 2009 | 56% | 33% |
| September | 56% | 33% |
| February 2009 | 68% | 19% |
| [NBC/WSJ] | ||
When it comes to the economy, Obama’s job approval rating has not been in positive territory since the middle of 2009.
| NBC/WSJ | NYT/CBS | WP/ABC | |
| Obama job approval / disapproval on the economy | |||
| October 2010 | -- | -- | 45/53% |
| September 2010 | -- | 41/51% | 41/47% |
| August 2010 | 44/52% | -- | -- |
| July 2010 | -- | -- | 43/54% |
| June 2010 | 48/50% | -- | -- |
| March 2010 | 47/50% | 45/45% | 45/52% |
| February 2010 | -- | 42/52% | 45/53% |
| January 2010 | 43/49% | 46/48% | 47/52% |
| December 2009 | 42/51% | 47/43% | 46/52% |
| October 2009 | 47/46% | 54/38% | 50/48% |
| June 2009 | 51/38% | 57/35% | 56/41% |
| February 2009 | 56/31% | 55/24% | 60/34% |
[Note: Shortly after the last edition of WW went online an email was received suggesting a significant omission from the list of President Obama’s meaningful accomplishments to date. After due reflection, the omission is corrected with the statement below from the email: "Saving the financial system and avoiding the second great depression."]
56% still believe that Obama inherited the current economic conditions, as opposed to being responsible for them. This is down from 84% who had that view in February 2009 and 65% who believed that in January 2010. [NBC/WSJ 9/10]
