McClatchy - Marist poll: Obama gets worst ratings of his presidency

[rangerrebew]

McClatchy-Marist Poll: Obama gets worst ratings of his presidency

By David Lightman

McClatchy Washington BureauDecember 9, 2013 Updated 23 hours ago
 


WASHINGTON — The American public is unusually pessimistic about the direction of the country and increasingly fed up with Washington gridlock, a sour mood reflected in the worst disapproval ratings for President Barack Obama since he took office nearly five years ago.

People give elected officials unusually low grades – 31 percent rated them “D” and 38 percent gave them an “F,” according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.

“The lack of confidence in Washington to right itself is showing up,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in New York.

Obama’s disapproval rating climbed to 53 percent – the worst in 29 polls since he took office in January 2009 – while 43 percent approved of his job performance. The disapproval number was up sharply from the 47 percent reading in September and tops the previous high of 52 percent in September 2011.

Obama retained strong support among Democrats – 77-18 percent approval – and disdain from Republicans – 90-8 percent disapproval. Independents disapproved 56 percent to 41 percent.

Obama’s personal ratings were also down. By 52 percent to 46 percent, people had an unfavorable impression of him, the first time since November 2011 the negative number was higher. The unfavorable number was also the worst he’s endured.

Obama in recent weeks has been battered by turmoil over his health care program. The highly touted website where people could sign up for coverage proved to be a dysfunctional embarrassment, and Obama had to backtrack from his assertion that people could keep their plans if they wanted.

Congress fared even worse. By 74 percent to 22 percent, voters disapprove of the Republicans’ performance, the highest since the question was first asked in April 2011. Republicans control the House of Representatives and 45 of the Senate’s 100 seats.

People soured on Democrats, too. Sixty-four percent disapproved of congressional Democrats, who control the Senate. Both Republican and Democratic disapproval numbers were up sharply from the last poll in July.

The numbers show that “the unsures have cast their vote with the negatives,” Miringoff said.

The key reason for the glum ratings is the economy. Though indicators suggest a healthy rebound, people aren’t feeling it. Instead, said Miringoff, the two Washington stories that have dominated headlines in recent months were the 16-day October government shutdown and the health care chaos.

That helped create pessimism that found two-thirds seeing things going in the wrong direction, while 30 percent felt matters were heading in the right direction.

Democrats were more optimistic, with the right-wrong direction split 57 percent to 40 percent. Republicans overwhelmingly saw the country moving the wrong way – 95 percent to 4 percent – and independents saw matters heading in the wrong direction, 69 percent to 26 percent.

The federal budget drama is the most obvious symbol of Washington inertia. Lawmakers have wrangled all year, passing stopgaps after extended, often bitter debate. Negotiators this week are said to be close on a deal that will avoid another shutdown when money again runs out Jan. 15.

Obama gets low marks for his handling of the economy. Fifty-eight percent disapproved of how he’s dealing with it, while 40 percent approved.

More people blame Republicans for the budget mess – 48 percent said it’s their fault while 38 percent named Obama.

Obama suffered in two other areas where he had shown some strength, foreign policy and personal appeal.

The latest poll was conducted after the administration announced a pact with Iran that eases some sanctions on that country, in exchange for some limits on Iran’s nuclear program.

That plan has won little congressional support, as lawmakers from both parties have expressed doubts. Forty-six percent approved of Obama’s handling of foreign policy, while 51 percent did not.

Voters have mixed views about how all this will translate in next year’s elections. Equal numbers – 43 percent – said they would vote for a Republican or a Democratic candidate. Independents preferred Republicans, 41 percent to 34 percent, while moderates favored Democrats, 49 percent to 35 percent.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/12/09/211090/mcclatchy-marist-poll-obama-gets.html#storylink=cpy

[Rapunzel]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2521587/Oh-bam-Presidents-approval-rating-plummets-38-cent-overall-just-34-cent-health-care-40-cent-Iran.html

Oh, Bam! President's approval rating plummets to 38 per cent overall, just 34 per cent on health care and 40 per cent on Iran

    Obama's support among young voters has disappeared, with 49 per cent now saying they disapprove of his job performance

    Hispanics' historic preference for the president shows signs of evaporating, with 43 per cent opposing him
    52 per cent of the voting public now says Obama is not 'honest and trustworthy' and 51 per cent say he lacks 'strong leadership qualities'

    Americans who want Republicans to control both houses of Congress now outnumber those who fear one-party control

By David Martosko, Us Political Editor

PUBLISHED: 17:16 EST, 10 December 2013 | UPDATED: 17:16 EST, 10 December 2013
Barack Obama is facing poll numbers that are now in the same territory as President George W. Bush's following Hurricane Katrina.

The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute released numbers on Tuesday showing that just 38 per cent of registered voters approve of the job Obama is doing as president, with a whopping 56 per cent saying they disapprove.

The president has lost his landslide electoral edge among young voters, too, with a negative 41–49 per cent rating among 18- to 29-year-old voters. His once formidable support among Hispanics has also evaporated: They now support him by an historically small 50–43 per cent margin.

Worse for Obama's fast-approaching legacy-building years, the public believes he is not 'honest and trustworthy,' by a 52–44 per cent score. A smaller majority, 51 per cent, said he lacks 'strong leadership qualities.'

Respondents said by a 41–38 per cent gap that they would vote for a Republican over a Democrat for the U.S. House of Representatives, the first time this year Democrats have had a winning posture in the Quinnipiac poll.

Obama got a rousing ovation from a crowd attending the official memorial service for late South African president Nelson Mandela on Tuesday, a change of pace from Americans who are losing faith in his policies

Friendlier shores: Barack Obama got a rousing ovation from a crowd attending the official memorial service for late South African president Nelson Mandela on Tuesday, a change of pace from Americans who are losing faith in his policies

Majority Leader? Mitch McConnell, the leader of the U.S. Senate's GOP minority, would run Congress' upper chamber in 2015 if the public's feelings about who should run the Capitol hold up

Majority Leader? Mitch McConnell, the leader of the U.S. Senate's GOP minority, would run Congress' upper chamber in 2015 if the public's feelings about who should run the Capitol hold up

And 47 per cent of voters said they would like to see Republicans gain control of both houses of Congress. The GOP can achieve that outcome if it holds the House and picks up seven Senate seats in November 2014.

Fully half of independent voters – those aligned with neither the Democratic nor the Republican party – said they would back a Congress completely under Republican control.

'President Obama could be pretty lonely during his last two years in office if voters decide they want Republican majorities in the House and Senate,' said Quinnipiac University Polling Institute assistant director Tim Malloy.

But Congress hasn't had an easy ride either: 74 per cent of voters disapprove of the way Congressional Republicans are doing their jobs. A smaller 67 per cent group says Democrats in Congress are also falling shirt of the mark.

Exhibit A: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is presiding over a health insurance overhaul that has drawn catcalls and sighs from the public as its website flails and its sticker shocks hit home

Exhibit A: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is presiding over a health insurance overhaul that has drawn catcalls and sighs from the public as its website flails and its sticker shocks hit home

Pollsters interviewed nearly 2,700 voters between Dec. 3 and Dec. 9, asking their opinions after a spate of positive news hit TV broadcasts and Internet news portals about jobs and the economy.

The results suggest the staying power of Obama's unpopular health insurance overhaul and his administration's controversial nuclear deal with Iran.

Even Democrats are beginning to doubt the president who famously promised hope and change: 18 per cent of them now say they're no fans of Obama's work in the Oval Office.

Malloy called the news 'a rousing chorus of Bah! Humbug! for President Barack Obama as American voters head into the holidays with little charitable to say.'

That includes his handling of specific issues. While Obama enjoys a 50–41 per cent positive rating for his handling of terrorism, that's the only issue Quinnipiac polled where he comes out on top.

He's under water on the economy, 37–59 per cent, 34–62 percent on health care and 42–49 per cent on foreign policy.

Iran, too, is making Americans uncomfortable. Just 40 per cent of registered voters say they approve of the White House's approach to the Islamic republic, whose expanding nuclear program is the subject of a deal brokered in November by the U.S. and five other nations. A larger 48 per cent group disapprove.

Americans are less disapproving of the agreement itself, by a 44–46 margin, and a 45–37 plurality say it will make America 'less safe.'
Making nice with the mullahs? Sec. of State John Kerry got a grilling in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Tuesday, defending the Obama administration's decision to pursue a nuclear pact with Iran

Making nice with the mullahs? Secretary of State John Kerry got a grilling in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Tuesday, defending the Obama administration's decision to pursue a nuclear pact with Iran

The only good news for the White House is that Americans support Obama's pitch to raise the minimum wage nation-wide.

Fully 69 per cent support hiking it by at least some amount, with 27 per cent opposed.  But the pollsters offered their interviewees three separate choices of how much to raise the minimum wage, compared with only one option to leave it alone.

GOP lawmakers cite economic studies that show minimum wage hikes have corresponded with job losses, particularly among low-skilled and minority workers, as companies let people go in order to comply with wage hikes without spending more money on human resources.

[rangerrebew]

    52 per cent of the voting public now says Obama is not 'honest and trustworthy'     By David Martosko, Us Political Editor

I can't believe that few see him as not 'honest and trustworthy.'  What has he done to prove he is?

[EC]

I can't believe that few see him as not 'honest and trustworthy.'  What has he done to prove he is?

Being black helps.

[rangerrebew]

So does being an accomplished liar - like Hitler.