August 10, 2013 8:58 AM
President Obama
Charlie Cook (Cook Political Report) summarizes President Obama’s situation: “...voters increasingly seem to have hit the mute button on President Obama. They are no longer listening to him and his approval numbers seem to be dropping by about a point every two weeks. This does not seem to be because of any of the so-called scandals that got Republicans so worked up during the winter and spring, but more because voters have a perception of Obama as a not particularly effective leader.”50% say they have a generally favorable opinion of Obama, while 46% view him unfavorably. In another national survey, 48% have positive feelings toward Obama, while 40% have negative feelings. [Fox News 7/23;NBC/WSJ 7/21]
The public’s grade for the job President Obama is doing (as found by Gallup) is 46%/45%. This is better than only 1 of the 5 previous two-term Presidents at this point in their second term. The list of 6 follows:
| Approve | Disapprove | |
| Reagan | 65 | 26 (8/15/85) |
| Eisenhower | 63 | 20 (8/13/57) |
| Clinton | 61 | 32 (8/13/97) |
| G Bush (II) | 46 | 51 (8/11/05) |
| Obama | 46 | 45 (8/6/13) |
| Nixon | 36 | 54 (8/20/73) |
| Date | NBC/WSJ | WP/ABC | CNN/ORC | NYT/CBS |
| July 2013 | 45/50% | 49/44% | xxx | 48/45% (CBS) |
| June 2013 | 48/47% | xxx | 45/54%* | 47/43% |
| May 2013 | xxx | 51/45% | 53/45% | xxx |
| Apr 2013 | 47/48% | 50/45%* | 51/47% | 47/45% |
| Mar 2013 | xxx | 50/46% | 47/50% | 45/46% (CBS) |
| Feb 2013 | 50/45% | xxx | xxx | xxx |
| Jan 2013 | 52/44% | 55/41% | 55/43% | 51/41% |
| July 2012 | 49/46% | 50/45% | 49/48% | 48/42% |
| * Latest survey in this line | ||||
Obama’s performance on the economy has been rated negatively since December 2009, with the exception of December 2012/January 2013. In its most recent survey, NBC/WSJ found 51% disapproving of Obama’s performance on the economy. 45% currently approve of his performance in this area.
| Approve | Disapprove | |
| July 2013 | 45% | 51% |
| June 2013 | 46% | 49% |
| Apr 2013 | 47% | 50% |
| Feb 2013 | 44% | 51% |
| Jan 2013 | 49% | 48% |
| Jan 2012 | 45% | 50% |
| Jan 2011 | 45% | 50% |
| Jan 2010 | 43% | 49% |
| Jan 2009 | 56% | 31% |
The Washington/ABC survey (7/21/13) found a similar result, with 49% disapproving of the President’s performance in this area, while 45% approved. And Quinnipiac University (7/31/14) found 54% disapproving his performance, while 42% approved.
Obama’s performance on foreign policy is rated dead-even (46%/46%) by those who approve of what the President has done on foreign policy and those that do not.
| Approve | Disapprove | |
| July 2013 | 46% | 46% |
| April 2013 | 46% | 43% |
| January 2012 | 51% | 41% |
| April 2011 | 49% | 46% |
| January 2010 | 50% | 37% |
By 48% to 38% Americans want to see Congress rather than Obama take the lead role in setting policy for the country. And among those who picked the Congress to set policy, 58% want Republicans in the House taking the lead. Only 19% think Senate Democrats should take the lead. [NBC/WSJ 7/13]
44% of Americans are optimistic or satisfied with how they feel President Obama will do during the rest of his term, while 56% are uncertain or pessimistic about how well he will do. The number of those who are pessimistic, 34%, is double the number who are optimistic, 17%.
53% believe that Obama will not be able to get much done during the balance of his term, while 43% believe he can be effective. [NBC/WSJ 7/21/13]
