Obama's Poll Numbers Deservedly go Down, Down, Down....

Obama Skids to New Low in Q Poll

“42 percent”

-- President Obama’s job approval rating in a new Quinnipiac poll, the lowest ever.

President Obama is sliding precipitously in the polls as economic uncertainty, dissatisfaction with his handling of fiscal concerns and broad opposition to the Libya war reversed his post-midterm bounce and more.

The latest Quinnipiac poll shows Obama with his lowest-ever job approval rating at 42 percent and half of voters said Obama does not deserve to be reelected. Obama was tied with a hypothetical Republican nominee for 2012.

Obama’s job approval ratings last approached this level at the end of the acrimonious and unpopular drive for the president’s national health care law a year ago.

A 47 percent plurality opposed American involvement in the Libyan civil war compared to only 41 percent if favor. The numbers are nearly as bad as the 50 percent who oppose continuing to fight the war in Afghanistan.

Only 30 percent of voters overall and 23 percent of independents approved of the way Obama is handling the problem of deficit spending. Only 34 percent approved of his handling of the economy, down from a high of 40 percent in January.

This all bodes ill not just for the president’s reelection hopes but also for his ability to push forward on his agenda, including the new war, his troop surge in Afghanistan and the Democratic plan to force a government shutdown over Republican-backed spending cuts.

More worrying for Obama, though, should be a new Gallup poll out today that shows personal affection for the president in decline. Obama has always struggled with a gap between the esteem with which Americans viewed him and their rejection of his policies.

Now, the gap is closing as Americans grow less admiring of the president.

Only 52 percent said they viewed him as a strong ad decisive leader, down from 60 percent a year ago.

Also troubling for Obama, only 36 percent of respondents and 30- percent of independents said he has a clear plan for the country.

The Gallup poll found a consistently low 45 percent job approval rating for the president last week.

If the gap between Obama’s personal attributes and policies continues to shrink in the direction of the lower number, the president’s comeback will have been very brief indeed.


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