Qunnipiac Poll: Obama Approval Dips Below 50% For First Time
President Barak Obama has now crossed the “danger zone” threshold: according to a new Quinnipiac Poll, his approval rating has now fallen below 50 percent for the first time in the latest poll that shows a gradual declining trend as he loses the support of a chunk of independent voters.
The poll also finds that support for the war in Afghanistan has slipped — which suggest that if Obama’s long awaited policy announcement is to send more troops he could be caught in a political pincer between GOPers (who will label it Obama’s war and say he is doing too little, too much or incompetently handling it) and the Democratic left (which is increasingly a problem for Obama and the party since there are increasing signs the Democrats could splinter on some issues at a time when the many straying Republicans are returning to their party). The poll:
President Barack Obama’s job approval rating is 48 – 42 percent, the first time he has slipped below the 50 percent threshold nationally, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Support for the war in Afghanistan and approval of President Obama’s handling of the war also is down in the last month, and Republican support for the war is more than twice as strong as Democratic support.
In other words: Obama’s upcoming policy could have more support from Republicans (who won’t vote for him and the Democrats in elections) than Democrats (who historically have taught their party a lesson by staying home when they don’t like its policy on an issue, giving Republicans a chance to control environmental, educational and other policies and to appoint court justices to its liking).
American voters say 48 – 41 percent that fighting the war in Afghanistan is the right thing to do, down from 52 – 37 percent in an October 7 survey by the independent Quinnipiac University. Voters disapprove 49 – 38 percent of the President’s handling of the war there, down from 42 – 40 percent approval in October.
But voters say 65 – 29 percent, including 68 – 25 percent among military households, that eliminating the threat of terrorists operating from Afghanistan “is a worthwhile goal for American troops to fight and possibly die for,” compared to 65 – 28 percent last month.
Which means that if framed properly Obama might get some otherwise wavering Americans a reason to give a new policy a chance.
Voters say 47 – 42 percent that President Obama should send 40,000 more combat troops to Afghanistan as the military commanders on the ground have requested. Only 27 percent of Democrats want more troops, compared to 68 percent of Republicans. Similarly, 68 percent of Republicans, but only 31 percent of Democrats, think the United States is doing the right thing fighting in Afghanistan.
“Increasingly, the President finds himself with two different coalitions, one that backs him on domestic matters and a completely different one that backs him on Afghanistan. That could create a challenge to his considerable political skills,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
On the other hand, if all current polls are taken together — at this point in time — Obama is not yet in crisisland. Look at Pollster.com:
9 Responses to “Qunnipiac Poll: Obama Approval Dips Below 50% For First Time”
Makes little difference. President Obama is the only Hope we have.
I heard of another survey where his numbers were even lower. At a NASCAR event, his numbers were down around 28%!
So it goes something like this: His approval rating, depending on the chosen location[s] of polling, is 50% of whatever percentage ilk of the population you are polling. Let's say the NASCAR crowd is about 20% of the population of the US. So what is the signficance then? 10% of the population could be definitively said to disapprove of Obama.
When polling results are published, they're almost never accompanied, as with this article which may or may not be misleading, by the locations of polling. You could, for instance, have a nationwide poll conducted, but only conducted just outside of say, sporting goods stores or strip clubs or chinese markets or gay bars or [insert ilk here]. So then you could accurately say that you did a nationwide poll. Anyone reading that would say to themselves “hmmm, yep, this sounds accurate”. But in reality the margin of error would've increased to nearing 50% itself!
So beware of polls. Talk to people around you. Hash it out amongst your friends. All articles like this do is attempt to nip the herd into a conforming ball so that it can be more easily managed. Don't be a sheep. Be a goat. Think for yourself. Make it HARD for the dogs…lol..
Calm down, people. The honeymoon swoon is over and only the fanatics are still in Messiah mode. He's still quite popular and nobody is questioning his competence. (We're questioning his and the other Dems' motives as well as criticizing their wrongdoing!)
I was waiting for that or a similar comment from you DLS or one of your clones here.
Did you get that folks? Cattle dog's “everybody get in line” flawed poll didn't ball you up so now you're supposed to be afraid of looking like a fanatic because you support our president in a time of crises. Or you're a worshipper of a false messiah…whatever works to shut your mind off, make you afraid and start thinking like a herd animal.
Do they ever give you any down time DLS or do several people post under the same handle on rotating shifts?…lol..Not like that would ever happen…
Here's a link to the poll results with brief discussion of methods:
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1397
Maybe next time you'll actuall read something, rather than just waiting to write what you already planned to write, Sil.
Background on polling
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1379/polling-histor…
“So beware of polls. Talk to people around you. Hash it out amongst your friends. All articles like this do is attempt to nip”
I have been, and they are saying they're not seeing enough progress. But they still like him and his concepts.
I hope they don't clone you. That would be too tough on us reasonable clones