President Obama

The public’s grade for the job President Obama is doing (as found by Gallup) is 47%/46%. This is better than 2 of the 5 previous two-term Presidents at this point in their second term. The list of 6 follows:





By 53% to 44%, Americans have a favorable opinion of Obama. [Bloomberg 6/13]

In June, the NBC/WSJ survey found 49% disapproving of Obama’s performance on the economy. It has been in this range since January 2010. 46% currently approve of his performance in this area.



64% are dissatisfied with the state of the U.S. economy today, while 36% are satisfied. On its face, this is a pretty negative picture. But in fact, looking back over Obama’s tenure, this is the highest level of satisfaction and the lowest level of dissatisfaction recorded. When Obama took office the level of dissatisfaction was at 92%. As recently as January of 2013 the dissatisfaction level was recorded at 72%.

Conversely, the level of satisfaction is the highest it has been since Obama took office. [NBC/WSJ 6/13]

Obama’s performance on foreign policy continues to be rated positively by 45% to 39%. His highest rating was recorded in June 2009. [NYT/CBS 6/13]

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49% disapprove of Obama’s handling of immigration, with 39% approving. In February, 41% disapproved of his handling of this issue, while 46% approved. [NYT/CBS 6/13]

58% disapprove of the way Obama has handled the IRS matter. [Gallup 6/13]

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Approval of the job Obama is doing, through his term to date, has averaged 30 percentage points ahead of the job approval of Congress during the same period. This compares to the 12-point spread achieved by George W. Bush; the 18- point spread achieved by Bill Clinton; and the 39-point spread achieved by George H.W. Bush. [Gallup 6/13]

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The June 11-13 CNN survey shows a drop of 9 percentage points for Obama on the statement “is honest and trustworthy,” from 58% to 49%. In February 2009, Obama’s score on this item was 74%. Since November 2009 it has ranged from 61% to 58% in May 2013.

Many, including CNN commentators, have cautioned that this is only a single survey, suggesting that this drop has not been confirmed.

However, this drop in “trustworthiness” previously showed up in the May 30-June 2 survey by the NBC/WSJ. In that survey, Obama is described as “being honest and straight forward” by 42% of the respondents. This was a drop of 7% since January 2013, and a 22% drop from a high of 64% that the survey found in April 2009.

Furthermore, in the same NBC/WSJ survey, an average of 57% think that the Administration’s handling of Benghazi, the subpoena of phone records reports of national security leaks, and the IRS targeting of conservative groups “raises doubts about the overall honesty and integrity of the Obama administration.”

In addition, when asked whether President Obama is personally responsible for the doubts raised about the Administration above, an average of 38% found him “totally/mainly responsible”

• 43% relating to Benghazi
• 37% relating to phone records and security leaks
• 33% relating to the IRS

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