All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

The latest CBS News Poll, conducted in early October, found President Obama's approval rating hasn't changed much over the past few months, but it is down from the high he reached in April, as he neared the end of his first hundred days in office.

The president's overall job approval rating was 56 percent in early October, with 34 percent disapproving, and 10 percent saying they don't know. Approval dropped twelve points since April, when 68 percent approved.



Mr. Obama has lost ground with independents and Republicans. In the October CBS News Poll, just 20 percent of Republicans approved, down from 31 percent in April. Most recently 52 percent of independents approved, down 13 points from 65 percent. 91 percent Democrats approved in April; 87 percent do so now.

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Despite continued attacks from Republicans in August over his health care plans, President Obama's overall approval rating has only dipped a couple percentage points. In the latest CBS News poll released Tuesday night, the president's overall approval rating is 56 percent, which is down two points from the last poll taken at the end of July.

That rating for Mr. Obama is the lowest in a CBS News poll since he took office in January, but only by one point. The president's approval rating in mid-July was at 57 percent, according to CBS News polling.

The president's approval rating hit a high in late April at 68 percent just as Mr. Obama was completing his first 100 days in office. The rating remained in the 60s until dropping in that mid-July poll.

However, even though there isn't a pronounced dip in his approval rating, there are some other possibly troubling signs in this new poll for the president. The president's disapproval rating jumped five points since the July poll to 35 percent, which is a new high mark.

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Today marks six months since Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States and according to the latest CBS News Poll, conducted July 9-12, 2009, his overall approval rating stands at 57 percent - his first approval rating below 60 percent and his lowest since becoming president.

How does this compare to past presidents?

At 57 percent, President Obama's approval is slightly higher than that of his immediate predecessor, George W. Bush (53 percent) and 18 points higher than the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton (39 percent) at similar points in their presidencies.

Still, President Obama's current marks are lower than those given to some earlier presidents: George H.W. Bush (67 percent), Jimmy Carter (62 percent), John F. Kennedy (75 percent), and Dwight D. Eisenhower (73 percent).

His approval rating is similar to that of President Ronald Reagan (59 percent), whose early months in office were also plagued by the nation's economic troubles. (It should be noted, however, that the unsuccessful assassination attempt made on President Reagan's life just 69 days into his presidency may have had an impact on his rating.) President Richard Nixon received a similar approval rating six months into office as well.

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CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer discussed some of the reasons behind President Obama's decreasing approval ratings today on CBS' "The Early Show," citing concerns with the economy as the main catalyst.

"I mean, one of the most interesting numbers in this poll… was that nearly 7 out of 10 people have some concern about losing their jobs," said Schieffer. "Now, when you have that kind of a number there where that many people are uncertain about whether they're going to lose their job, there's no way the president's approval rating is going to stay very high."

Schieffer pointed out that even though Mr. Obama passed the stimulus package in addition to other programs aimed at improving the economy, the American people have yet to see any progress or a direct impact on their lives.

Schieffer also agreed with Vice President Joe Biden's earlier statement on the economy being worse off then the Obama administration first thought.

"Maybe they didn't want to say how bad that it really was…but when you come down to it, the economy is in terrible shape," Schieffer explained.

Quickly touching upon the approval rating's impact on Mr. Obama's plans to overhaul the health care system, Schieffer stated, "it's pretty well a consensus around Washington now, he's not going to get this done by the August recess, which was sort of the deadline they set. I think health care is in big trouble right now."

But because over 50 percent of the nation still holds a favorable view of Mr. Obama, Schieffer says that the president is "a long way from being unpopular."

You can check out the full interview with Bob Schieffer above.