Since the Libs here like CNN, read it and weep. Obama's rating are heading into the crapper.
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By Kristin Jensen
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s approval ratings are slipping as Americans fret about the economy, two polls found.
A March 12-15 survey conducted for CNN by Opinion Research Corp. found Obama’s approval rating dropped 3 points from late last month and 12 points from early February. A Pew Research Center poll taken March 9-12 found that Obama’s approval rating slipped to 59 percent from 64 percent last month.
While Americans still generally support Obama’s handling of the economy, more questions are cropping up, according to the polls. The Washington-based Pew Research Center found that more than half of Americans disagree with a proposed change to Medicare that would have wealthier seniors pay more for drugs.
“The fact that the scope of his policy agenda is daunting has probably given some people pause,” said Michael Dimock, Pew’s associate director for research. “There are signs in this poll that people are cautious.”
The CNN poll found that Obama’s overall approval rating declined to 64 percent from 76 percent in a Feb. 7-8 poll. His disapproval rating climbed to 34 percent from 23 percent.
While 59 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s handling of the economy, they give him higher marks for the way he has dealt with Iraq, Afghanistan, terrorism, education and energy policy. The smallest percentage -- 57 percent -- approve of the way Obama is handling health-care policy, according to the CNN poll.
Hope for Success
Almost two-thirds of Americans said they believe it’s more likely than not that Obama’s policies will succeed and 86 percent said they “hope” his plans will work, CNN said. If there’s no improvement in the economy during the next 12 months, 54 percent said they will blame former President George W. Bush and his Republican Party; 32 percent would blame Obama and the Democrats.
In the Pew poll, Obama’s overall disapproval rating climbed to 26 percent from 17 percent. The approval and disapproval ratings are similar to those garnered by Bush at a similar point in his presidency in 2001 and better than those received by former President Bill Clinton in 1993, the center said.
Six in 10 participants in the Pew poll said Obama is doing as much as he can to address the economic downturn, and 64 percent said his policies have had no effect so far. Respondents were split on Obama’s proposals, with 39 percent saying he plans to spend too much and 34 percent saying it’s the right amount.
Both telephone surveys had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Pew interviewed 1,308 adults, while the CNN survey included 1,019 adults.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kristin Jensen in Washington at
kjensen@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: March 16, 2009 15:18 EDT
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MSNBC Poll - As of March 17th
