Obama's approval rating tanks in Rasmussen poll

Good news for a Friday. Today I read at Ace of Spades and The Corner the good news that Obama's approval rating has tanked.

Obama Cratering [Andy McCarthy]

Though his media fans tell us incessantly that he is a uniquely popular president, nearly 60 million Americans voted against Obama (i.e., more than had ever voted for any presidential candidate in U.S. history other than President Bush in 2004), and the professional pollsters apparently have a very different take on America's reaction to "change."

Here's the opening exceprt of what Douglas Schoen and Scott Rasmussen write in today's WSJ:

It is simply wrong for commentators to continue to focus on President Barack Obama's high levels of popularity, and to conclude that these are indicative of high levels of public confidence in the work of his administration. Indeed, a detailed look at recent survey data shows that the opposite is most likely true. The American people are coming to express increasingly significant doubts about his initiatives, and most likely support a different agenda and different policies from those that the Obama administration has advanced.

Polling data show that Mr. Obama's approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001. Rasmussen Reports data shows that Mr. Obama's net presidential approval rating — which is calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve — is just six, his lowest rating to date.

Overall, Rasmussen Reports shows a 56%-43% approval, with a third strongly disapproving of the president's performance. This is a substantial degree of polarization so early in the administration. Mr. Obama has lost virtually all of his Republican support and a good part of his Independent support, and the trend is decidedly negative.

03/13 08:47 AM Share