Obama approval rating on economy plunges to new low
President Obama
President Obama's approval rating on the the most important issue for his re-election--the economy--has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency, according to a poll released Wednesday by Gallup.
Just over one in four of those asked say they approve of his performance. The 26 percent approval rating is down from 37 percent in May and almost 10 percentage points below his prior low of 35 percent in November 2010.
His disapproval rating on the economy jumped 11 points from May to 71 percent, also a record for his time in office.
The unemployment rate fell slightly to a still elevated 9.1 percent in July, though the economy grew just 1.3 percent in the three months through June after growing at a 0.4 percent pace in the first three months of this year.
The Federal Reserve last week surprised financial markets when it took the unprecedented step of saying it intended to keep interest rates ultra-low for at least two years as it anticipates weak economic conditions and a "subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run."
Mr. Obama' overall approval rating fell to 41 percent in August from 52 percent in May. Each of the major subcategories has fallen.
The president scored his highest approval rating for his handling of terrorism, at 53 percent approval. That is still 10 percentage points lower than the 63 percent rating he scored in May, days after the killing of Osama bin Laden in early May.
His lowest approval rating came for his handling of the federal budget deficit. Just 24 percent of Americans said they approved of the way he has dealt with the deficit, down eight percentage points from his May rating.
The White House and congressional Republicans were involved in a high-profile debate over raising the legal U.S. borrowing limit for much of the time between surveys.
The results are based on telephone interviews of 1,008 adults between August 11-14 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, Gallup said.
Popular in Politics
- Obama prom pictures surface
- Obama: America at a "crossroads" in fighting terrorism 100 Comments
- IRS official Lois Lerner placed on leave
- Protester heckles Obama during counterterrorism speech Play Video
- Lawmakers push to punish sexual offenders in the military
- Boehner calls out Obama administration's "arrogance of power" 101 Comments
- Rep. Jo Bonner to resign from House for university job
- Could the GOP pull an upset in Mass. senate race?















Congress does not live in the real world. They should all be paid minimum wage and living in public housing for their entire term; no fancy limo's and restaurants, no 5 week vacations, just work, like the rest of the country. You live in the trenches with the remaining 100+ million Americans on low and fixed incomes. Only then will you be able to understand what this country needs. These people forget that they work for us, not the other way around.
And taxes should be fair and equal for all, if you earn 10 billion, you pay 1 billion, if you earn 100,000 you pay 10,000. The party system should be abolished, as it serves no useful purpose other than promoting bigotry and infighting.
It is Pelosi/Reid/Obama the axis of evil...
This poor law student obama is in way over his head...
we need someone with some experience'
Executive Experience'
Yes, Gov. Rick Perry 2012
Evil is-not willing to stop being stupid, and actually getting educated, so that when you talk, you don't make a fool of yourself.
A Republican in Office would not have helped a bit. Jobs are scarse and just as scarse for them as they are Democrats. Instead of blaming THIS Democrat for everything, how about blaming THAT Republican who was in office when we lost all those jobs?
Your Messiah is on vacation. Of course that might be a good thing. Everything he touches turns to poop and it's really better if he just goes away and plays golf.
At least progressives should be able to be honest. I am not buying the double standard. I honestly don't think the President can be the only one to blame for the mess, but I think liberals should be consistent in their criteria.
Let's see, I agree that President Bush foolishly doubled his 2007 deficit spending in 2008, that he refused to deal with illegal immigration until the last year of his Presidency, and that he foolishly began the bailouts. OK - Progressives are OK with that?
I even more blame President Obama for foolishly TRIPLING President Bush's 2007 deficit spending in 2009, 2010, and projected for 2011. I blame stupid Nancy Pelosi (we should pass the bill so that we know what is in it), Harry Reid, and President Obama for cramming an idiotic health care law down the throats of a majority of Americans who do not want it - a a stupid law that increases expenses and regulations on businesses at a time of massively high unemployment - which causes health care premiums to be more costly for struggling Americans and places $billions of unfunded mandates on struggling states. President Obama wasted $100s of billions on bogus stimulus packages (shovel ready jobs that he now admits were not shovel ready jobs). President Obama wasted almost $1 trillion in unfair bailouts to recipients of HIS choosing, while allowing businesses of his choosing to go under. None of this corrected the terrible economic mess we have.
Sure, I am willing to spread the blame around. However, the election of President Obama to the Presidency has proved to be a complete disaster. We finally removed that goofball Pelosi from being the Speaker of the House, and now it is time to remove that slime ball Harry Reid from leading the Senate.
It is time to send progressive dreamers home from Washington, and replace them with practical people who have actual successful track records in job creation and restoration of stable economics. I think I am being fair.