December 16, 2011 11:58 AM
President Obama
The President is less than one year away from the day on which the American public will give him his report card for his first term. As he approaches that day, the public’s grade for the job he has done is lower than any of the 7 previous Presidents in their 3rd year in office.The President’s current job approval rating in Gallup is 42%. Following is the list of 8.
| Approve | Disapprove | |
| Eisenhower | 78 | 13 |
| GW Bush (II) | 63 | 34 |
| Reagan | 54 | 38 |
| Clinton | 51 | 44 |
| G Bush (I) | 50 | 41 |
| Carter | 50 | 35 |
| Nixon | 50 | 37 |
| Obama | 42 | 50 |
Following are several additional cuts at the President’s job approval rating.
| NBC/WSJ | NYT/CBS | WP/ABC | CNN/ORC | |
| December 2011 | 44/61% | 44/46% (CBS) | --- | --- |
| November 2011 | 44/51% | --- | 44/53% | 44/54% |
| October 2011 | 44/51% | 46/46% | 42/54% | 54/52% |
| August 2011 | --- | 48/47% | --- | 44/54% |
| July 2011 | 47/48% | --- | 47/48% | 45/54% |
| June 2011 | 62/29% | 48/43% (CBS) | 47/49% | 48/48% |
The only major survey that shows the President having a higher than disapproval rating is PEW, which, in its December survey, has the President’s job approval number at 46% to 43% disapproval.
The most recent NBC/WSJ survey found that 45% have favorable feelings about the President, while 42% have unfavorable feelings about him. There has not been much, if any, movement in this measurement since August. This matches up with a 48% favorable/49% unfavorable result in the December WP/ABC.
On his handling of the economy, disapproval of the President’s performance remains at 57% to 40% approval. The last time the President had a positive performance rating on his handling of the economy was in September 2009, when his performance on this measurement was 50% approval to 42% disapproval. The next month it was even, and he has been in negative territory ever since. [NBC/WSJ 12/11]
The current NBC/WSJ survey gave respondents the opportunity to identify accomplishments and failures of the Obama administration by selecting from a fixed list of options. The top two accomplishments were in the foreign policy/military category, and the top two failures were failing to improve economic conditions and increasing government spending.
| Accomplishments - Top 4 (over 10%) | |
| Killing Osama bin laden | 27% |
| Bring troops home from Iraq | 25% |
| Preventing another economic depression | 13% |
| Passing the health care law | 11% |
| Failures - Top 5 (over 10%) | |
| Unable to improve economic conditions | 24% |
| Increasing government spending | 18% |
| Not providing strong leadership | 16% |
| Passing the health care law | 13% |
| Keeping American troops in Afghanistan | 12% |
The health care law passed by the Congress and signed by the President during Obama’s first term continues to be a problem for the President. It is treated as “his” healthcare law and its popularity has not improved.
46% (36% strongly) favor eliminating the law. 40% oppose its elimination. The number favoring elimination has not changed since January 2011. The number opposing has dropped from 46%. [NBC/WSJ 12/11]
President Obama has chosen the course of his Presidency. Rather than use Washington to achieve his goals, he derided the way Washington works and many of its players. He has chosen not to regularly engage with, let alone court, the Members of Congress in his own Party or the other Party. It does not appear that he has maintained the strength of connection to the electorate that he achieved in winning election in 2008.
