President Obama's Approval Rating Dips to 'Area of Concern' Level

Posted Jan 12th 2010 6:00PM by Joseph Lazzaro
Filed under: Politics, Recession

President Barack Obama's approval rating has entered 'the area of concern' zone.

The president's approval rating slipped to 46% in January from 50% in December 2009, according to a new CBS News poll, CBSNews.com reported Tuesday.

President Obama still has very strong support among Democrats, about an 80% approval rating, but his approval rating has slipped among Independents, down 10 percentage points to 42%. Obama's approval rating among Republicans is low: only 13% approve of the president's performance.

Further, only 41% of Americans polled approved of the way the president was handling the U.S. economy.

The most recent Gallup Poll had 50% of Americans approving of the way Obama is handling his job as president.

Political/Economic Analysis: For a president to have maximum persuasion with Congress and inside the Washington community, his approval rating needs to stay above 60%, preferably above 65%. Once it drops to 50%, power declines, and when it drops to 45%, it enters 'the area of concern' -- a level at which opponents feel they can challenge/oppose the president and still retain the backing of a majority of the American people.

President Obama's approval rating has dropped primarily due to the high U.S. unemployment rate and massive number of jobs lost during the recession. However, some of the approval decline also stems from the costs perceived from the federal health care reform bill, and increased public concern about national security, in light of the failed terrorist attack on a commercial airplane in Detroit.

The best way for President Obama and Congressional Democrats to increase their approval ratings? In addition to a strong national security policy (obviously) -- implement programs -- fiscal stimulus, tax credit, or direct federal hiring -- that create jobs and that lowers the U.S. unemployment rate. The American people are realistic -- they don't expect miracles -- but they do want the president and Congress to do more to create jobs: job growth also is required for a sustained U.S. economic expansion with increasing corporate revenue and earnings.

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Financial Editor Joseph Lazzaro is writing a book on the U.S. presidency and the U.S. economy.

Tags: Obama, polls

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-12-2010 @ 6:48PM

Steve said...

Put simply, Obama can't handle the job. I don't expect miracles after only one year, but I DO expect progress. Things have only gotten worse.
And this isn't a partisan issue. I'm registered Independent. So let's not go there with any "neocon" bull-oney.

1-12-2010 @ 7:34PM

leetraf said...

It is so surpriseing. 14 per cent of Republicans support Obama. That is the same 14 per cent that did not vote for him in the first place.

1-12-2010 @ 8:34PM

Brent Schmidt said...

I hope you all enjoy the last three years America will have a black president for another 230 years.

^ Obviously that's a joke, but yeah...

1-13-2010 @ 2:02AM

Bob said...

80% of DEMOCRATS STRONGLY SUPPORT OBAMA? What are you smoking? That is the boldist bunch of crap yet. I guess the person who "made up" that idiotic number must think most young people are absolute idiots! That is insulting to anyone with any i.q. above nat level, unless young democrats are really that stupid to believe that number. FACT: Obama is at his lowest rating EVER amoung Democrats ... The far left is P'd off at him big time and the center/right of the party is too .... he has a core of lunatics that is a very, very small part of the left who will cheer him on no matter what, because they have no real idea of what is going on - they are followers and certainly not leaders. 80% my A**, he's going down faster than Amy Winehouse ...l.o.l.

1-13-2010 @ 6:13AM

Digi said...

Um... 80% for Democrats and 13% for Republicas...

Reading Comprehension > You

1-13-2010 @ 9:12AM

Frank said...

his approval rating will keep going down because people dont want his change to being marxist/communism. if communism didnt work in the USSR or China what makes this inept foll think it will work in America. JOIN GRASSFIRE.ORG

1-13-2010 @ 9:51AM

jerry said...

Comrade Obama is a bad, bad president. He is incompetent as the day is long.

1-13-2010 @ 4:50PM

rv said...

Hes not getting shit done. The euphoria from his election is over. Now we have a president who can't get his issues right, and will probably not get a second term.

1-14-2010 @ 1:31PM

Susan said...

According to Congressional Quarterly, Obama has the HIGHEST rate of bill passage of any President ever. He has stopped the economic freefall, stocks are back to 2007 levels, the housing crisis is recovering, mortgage rates are low, people are investing and spending again, and the jobs numbers are back to where they were 2 years ago. Plus, he is making friends in the world, lots of countries are mobilizing to help Haiti (versus Katrina when the countries who still liked us enough to offer help were turned away by Bush!) and torture has stopped. I'd say he's done an awful lot with an amazing amount of criticism leveled at him by hateful Republicans, who really cannot stand a black President. But then, who expects Republicans to be honest and admit that this quiet man is getting things done without the big press ops Bush craved: you do all remember Mission Accomplished and the flight suit. What a load of garbage. Obama prefers to work behind the scenes and not blow his own horn, and things are getting done. So get over yourselves. just because Beck and Hannity, the college dropouts, tell you that Obama is a Nazi doesn't make it so.