ro-h2o
07-11-2009, 07:20 PM
Jim Brown - OneNewsNow
President Obama's approval rating has been slipping since last week's release of the June jobs report indicating a 9.5-percent unemployment rate in the U.S.
Polling by Scott Rasmussen, the president of Rasmussen Reports, finds 32 percent of Americans strongly approve of the way the president is handling his job, compared to 37 percent who strongly disapprove. That gives President Obama an approval index rating of -5 -- the lowest it has ever been.
Rasmussen says the decline in Obama's approval rating is directly tied to the shifting perceptions of what is happening in the economy.
"We've seen, ever since mid-March, a general increase in optimism about the state of the economy, about the direction of the nation," he shares. "And that jobs report coming out just before the Fourth of July weekend, showing far more job losses than anybody expected, seems to have taken the American people a little bit by surprise."
He notes that consumer confidence today is at its lowest level in two months, and investor confidence is at its lowest level in three months. "And ultimately no matter what else you say, the state of the economy has an impact on the way you perceive the president," says the pollster.
Rasmussen says even though Obama's poll numbers are down from where they were on Inauguration Day, the president essentially has support from about the same segment of the population that he had the day he was elected. What will be significant, according to Rasmussen, is where the president's numbers are one year from now.
President Obama's approval rating has been slipping since last week's release of the June jobs report indicating a 9.5-percent unemployment rate in the U.S.
Polling by Scott Rasmussen, the president of Rasmussen Reports, finds 32 percent of Americans strongly approve of the way the president is handling his job, compared to 37 percent who strongly disapprove. That gives President Obama an approval index rating of -5 -- the lowest it has ever been.
Rasmussen says the decline in Obama's approval rating is directly tied to the shifting perceptions of what is happening in the economy.
"We've seen, ever since mid-March, a general increase in optimism about the state of the economy, about the direction of the nation," he shares. "And that jobs report coming out just before the Fourth of July weekend, showing far more job losses than anybody expected, seems to have taken the American people a little bit by surprise."
He notes that consumer confidence today is at its lowest level in two months, and investor confidence is at its lowest level in three months. "And ultimately no matter what else you say, the state of the economy has an impact on the way you perceive the president," says the pollster.
Rasmussen says even though Obama's poll numbers are down from where they were on Inauguration Day, the president essentially has support from about the same segment of the population that he had the day he was elected. What will be significant, according to Rasmussen, is where the president's numbers are one year from now.