NW_Rider
Active member
http://news.yahoo.com/s/rasmussen/20090724/pl_rasmussen/obamaapproval20090724_1
Obama Job Approval Below 50% for First Time
rasmussenreports.com Rasmussenreports.com
Fri Jul 24, 10:25 am ET
end .byline
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 30% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama
is performing his role as President. Thirty-eight percent (38%)
Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating
of -8 (see trends).
Just 25% believe that the economic stimulus package has helped the economy.
The
Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who
Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated
daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates also available on Twitter.
Overall,
49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's
performance. Today marks the first time his overall approval rating has ever fallen below 50% among Likely Voters nationwide. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.
Eighty-three percent (83%) of Democrats continue to approve of the President's performance while 80% of Republicans
disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 37%
offer a positive assessment. The President earns approval from 51% of
women and 47% of men.
These updates
are based upon nightly telephone interviews and reported on a three-day
rolling average basis. Most of the interviews for today's update were
completed before the President's nationally televised press
conference on Wednesday night. The first update based entirely upon
interviews conducted after the press conference will be released on Sunday.
It is important to remember that the Rasmussen Reports job approval ratings
are based upon a sample of likely voters. Some other firms base their
approval ratings on samples of all adults. President Obama's numbers
are always several points higher in a poll of adults rather than likely
voters. That's because some of the President's most enthusiastic
supporters, such as young adults, are less likely to turn out to vote.
California Senator Barbara Boxer is clinging to a four-point lead in her bid for re-election.
(More Below)
Fifty-three percent (53%) now oppose the Congressional health care reform
package. That's up eight points over the past month. Just 20% now see
health care as the most important of the President's priorities. Nearly
twice as many, 37%, say deficit reduction is most important.
Fifty-five percent (55%) of California voters oppose the budget agreement reached by the state's political leaders. Sixty-four percent (64%) believe that illegal immigrants create a major strain on the state's budget.
Nationwide, 72% don't want the federal government determining what type of light bulbs they should purchase.
Forty-six percent (46%) say that network television news is more reliable than the internet. Thirty-five percent (35%) disagree.
Thirty-one percent (31%) now say the U.S. is heading in the right direction. That's down nine points from the 2009 peak. Republicans continue to enjoy a slight edge on the Generic Congressional Ballot.
See recent demographic highlights from the Presidential Tracking Poll. For more measures of the President's performance, see Obama By the Numbers.
Please take our Daily Prediction Challenge and predict the results of upcoming polls.
If you'd like Scott Rasmussen to speak at your meeting, retreat, or conference, contact Premiere Speakers Bureau. You can also learn about Scott's favorite place on earth or his time working with hockey legend Gordie Howe.
When comparing Job Approval data
from different firms, it's important to keep in mind that polls of
likely voters and polls of all adults will typically and consistently
yield different results. In the case of President Obama, polls by all
firms measuring all adults typically show significantly higher approval ratings
than polls of likely voters. Polls of registered voters typically fall
in the middle. Other factors are also important to consider when comparing Job Approval ratings from different polling firms.
A Fordham University professor has rated the national pollsters on their record in Election 2008. We also have provided a summary of our results for your review.
Daily tracking results are collected via telephone surveys of 500
likely voters per night and reported on a three-day rolling average
basis. The margin
of sampling error--for the full sample of 1,500 Likely Voters--is +/- 3
percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Results are also
compiled on a full-week basis and crosstabs for full-week results are available for Premium Members.
Like all polling firms, Rasmussen Reports weights its data to reflect the population at large (see methodology). Among other targets, Rasmussen Reports weights data by political party affiliation
using a dynamic weighting process. While partisan affiliation is
generally quite stable over time, there are a fair number of people who
waver between allegiance to a particular party or independent status.
Over the past four years, the number of Democrats in the country has
increased while the number of Republicans has decreased.
Our baseline targets are established based upon separate survey interviews with a sample of adults nationwide
completed during the preceding three months (a total of 45,000
interviews) and targets are updated monthly. Currently, the baseline
targets for the adult population are 39.0% Democrats,
32.5% Republicans, and 28.5% unaffiliated. Likely voter samples
typically show a slightly smaller advantage for the Democrats.
A review of last week's key polls is posted each Saturday morning. Other stats on Obama are updated daily on the Rasmussen Reports Obama By the Numbers page. We also invite you to review other recent demographic highlights from the tracking polls.
_____________________________________
I was wondering how close (or far away) NS came to these numbers. Say whatever you want to say and then add your vote.
While I do not agree with many of Obama's campaign policies, I would have to say that I am pleasantly surprised that he has pushed back many of his proposed tax hikes until 2011 and while he may not be as hard on Foreign threats has I may like, he has appeared to have increased foreign relations with our allies and move a few steps in the right direction from the bush admin. I am still a skeptic of socialized healthcare, but then again, there is not currently one single healthcare system in the world that I know of that I think is good, maybe we can come up with something new altogether. All together though, I would have to say that as of right now, I weakly approve of the job Obama is doing.
Strongly Approve: 0
Approve: 0
Undecided / Weak Approve/Disapprove: 1
Disapprove: 0
Strongly Disapprove: 0
