Obama: Job Approval Below 40 Percent

By Jon E. Dougherty at 15 Aug 2011

(Newsroom America) -- For the first time during his presidency, Barack Obama's job approval rating has sunk below 40 percent, reflective of increased frustration by a public clamoring for solutions to a number of issues in Washington.

The Gallup daily tracking survey said 39 percent of Americans approved of Obama's job performance, while 54 percent said they disapproved. Obama's rating has been around 40 percent for weeks, but it began trending downward during the recent debt ceiling debate.

In recent months it peaked at 53 percent following the U.S. Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden, but it quickly tanked in the days and weeks following as the president and Congress clashed over the debt ceiling and a raft of bad economic and employment data worsened an already sour public mood.

The new figures come as Republicans seeking to oust Obama next year kick up their campaigns. Many leading figures were in Iowa over the weekend, site of the first presidential caucus. Texas Gov. Rick Perry also jumped into the race officially on Saturday.

Obama is planning his own campaign counterattack, the Los Angeles times reported, with a three-day bus tour that kicks off in Minneapolis on Monday and ends in Iowa on Wednesday.

Contact Jon E. Dougherty

Newsroom America Twitter Feed