A majority of Americans disapprove of the job the president is doing according to a new Pew poll.
Just 41% approve of the job the president does—down 14 points from last December.
While it’s the lowest approval rating Obama’s had in his five years in office, it’s still not as bad as President Bush’s ratings at the same time in the first year of his second term (in November of 2005, just 36% of Americans approved of the job Bush was doing.)
Obama’s lost the most ground over the last year amongst independents; just 32% of independents approve of his job, while 61% disapprove. Last December, 53% of independents approved and 39% disapproved.
A majority of Americans disapproved of the president’s handling on four out of the five issues polled—health care, the economy, immigration policy, and foreign policy all received net negative ratings. The threat of terrorism was the president’s only slim success, with 51% of Americans approving of Obama’s handling of terrorism and 44% disapproving.
Obama’s job approval rating has been spiraling downward since May—the current disparity between approving and disapproving Americans is the largest of his presidency.
The Pew poll was conducted by landline and cell phone between Oct. 30th and Nov. 6th; it surveyed 2,003 adults.
Jane Timm