Obama's Approval Rating Hits New Low

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

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Last week, President Obama signed historic health care reform legislation into law -- but his legislative success doesn't seem to have helped his image with the American public.

The latest CBS News Poll, conducted between March 29 and April 1, found Americans unhappier than ever with Mr. Obama's handling of health care - and still worried about the state of the economy.

President Obama's overall job approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 44 percent, down five points from late March, just before the health bill's passage in the House of Representatives. It's down 24 points since his all-time high last April. Forty-one percent of those polled said they disapproved of the president's performance.

More results from this CBS News Poll will be released in Friday's broadcast of the Evening News with Katie Couric, which airs at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.

When it comes to health care, the President's approval rating is even lower -- and is also a new all-time low. Only 34 percent approved, while 55 percent said they disapproved.

Americans are still worried about the economy, with 84 percent telling CBS they thought it was still in bad condition. However, even that high number represents an improvement: nine in ten thought the economy was bad during the last half of 2008 and at the beginning of 2009, when Mr. Obama assumed the Presidency.

Concern about job loss remains high; slightly more Americans now (35 percent) than in February (31 percent) were "very concerned" that someone in their household would lose a job. Nearly six in ten Americans said they were at least "somewhat concerned" about a job loss.

As has often been the case, lower-income Americans tend to be the most concerned about job loss.

This concern is reflected in yet another low approval rating -- this time for the President's handling of the economy. Just 42 percent said they approved of how President Obama is handling the economy, only one point above January's all-time low. Half of the public disapproves.

Read the Complete Poll
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This poll was conducted among a random sample of 858 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone March 29-April 1, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

[Jason_Clearbrook]

You know, when you look at Florida, where two Republicans became a Republican and an Independant on the Ticket with a Democrat supported by the AFL-CIO and President Obama and the Republican now bucking the system and running as an Independant is out in the lead, the winds are more than just shifting a little! REAL HOPE is getting people energized and, I think, willing to express themselves more truthfully! I think that there was always and undercurrent of resentment of Obama and his policies that people repressed out of the bashing they took from the Media trying to enhance their "white guilt" for daring, against Political Correctness, to speak against "the one" on anything. So I think he was ALWAYS less popular, but people felt guilty expressing it. Now he has gone far enough, they no longer have to feel guilty! BTW, the REAL racists are those who support him BECAUSE he seems black! (Like some of the 90% of black americans who ALWAYS support him must be! -- Look at Gallup Polls where they keep those demographics quite available...) And I am quarter blooded Native American, so pull the race card on me at your own peril! I'll take that card and shove it back down your throat sideways so it cuts you! I don't care if you are Black, White, Asian or otherwise!

[msay3]

BRAVO!!!!!!

[La-pochka_]

I really miss Bush. :)))
Despite everything I am still a proud Republican!

[La-pochka_]

I can't believe that there are crazy people who still think that Obama is good...He is like Lenin...Russia hates him and he trusts them, he doesn't know what he is doing...
He is the stupidest and the most arrogant president. I HOPE we will kick him out!

[La-pochka_]

I am afraid it will be too late..God save our country...He is like a curse... People wanted a change....now they got it.....

[La-pochka_]

IT'S COMMON SENSE TO CUT SPENDINGS WHEN WE HAVE DEBTS, BUT OBAMA thinks like all his boys that money will come from somewhere...
How is our country gonna pay for the healthcare? - Well, the qulity will go down, nurse practiciners will be diagnosing us, less doctors, less great medical equipment...
ON TOP OF that he is trying to legalise illegal immigrants, who will be eligible for medicare, foodstamps, etc...THIS TO MUCH in addition to our debt....WHTA IS HE GONNA DO NEXT?
additinal natinal TAX FOR EVERYBODY, raising taxes up to 50%?
THIS WILL COME if we don't stop him during next president's elections!

[La-pochka_]

I can't imagine that USA has this kind of president who trys to win just the votes of illegal immigrants, those who are lazy to work...
He is not thing of the middle class which work for this country...I agree we needed the healthcare reform but not this way... we need to cut down the COSTS...so that it would be affordable...cut eligibility...I agree that old people and handicapped should get government insurance....but everybody else should be working for it.
As for ellegal immigrants, they should get just work or study visas.
I think there should be rules for them:
1) no eligibility for social programs
2) no bringing families here
2) no comitting crime or you should go to prison for 10 years, they should respect our laws

Obama is bending the rules...he is not acting in our countries best interrests. He wants us to pay for what we did to blacks .... Mexicans will demand us to pay for using them. This is Obama;s plan to make our kids work for them and pay 50% taxes.
He is the worst president ever!

NOVEMBER ELECTIONS CAN SAVE US A LITTLE BIT... We should do it for our kids. Republicans are bad as well, bu they would NEVER DO SUCH THING!

[leninthesecond]

It is too late, comrads. With the rating still in 40th comrad obama can go ahead with his agenda. As history shows it includes a major bloodshed and still unknow path for recovery.

lenin

[magnomom]

We need to get this man out of Office before it is to late to save our country, and the people in it that believe in God, The Constitution, and Our Founding Fathers. May God help us out from under this teariny before it is to late. He is the biggest failure we could have ever voted into office, along with Polosi and some of the Congress and Senate.

[AnonymousCommentary]

In 2002 it was reported by eye witnesses, that black foreigners representing Barack Obama, were holding people in a gym near the central coast, while barracading the doors, and wouldn't allow them to leave until they agreed to support Barack Obama. The "thugs" from another country were saying that they supported the Barack Obama presidential campaign. They were yelling and screaming at women and children, and also men. A black man named Pastor Brad, who ran services at what was called "Kingsway Assembly" was the one who invited them. He now holds his services in an unknown location in Atascadero, California.
Pastor Brad, along with the black foreigners who were barracading doors to prevent their victims from escaping, were also trying to force people to curse white people and make them sick, so that the black man could be exalted, and Obama could be placed in the Presidential Seat.
Many people witnessed the event, including military veterans.
While the men were yelling and screaming in a violent manner for the women to "pray" for Obama, and children were crying, they were saying that they had come from areas such as Africa, Haiti, and other predominately black areas, and needed help getting identifications. A few days later, a black man, with a strange accent, in Pismo Beach was yelling to his friends that he had just hurt someone and got an I.D. and he was happy because he didn't need to use his temporary passport anymore.
These incidents were reported.

[thevanguard]

The president sold a lot of people on this bill using bait and switch.

He had promoted the public option, and in the end we got a bill very similar to a GOP bill from 1993, or RomneyCare. He threw us all to the very same wolves that are heavily contributing to the problem.

Contrary to what the apologists say, half a **** sandwich is no better than no **** sandwich. Let's move into the 20th century by providing our citizens with the same health and financial security that every other developed country in the world offers -- a public healthplan.