Pro-Abortion President Barack Obama Sees Ratings Slide Again to New Lows
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 24, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Just when Americans thought pro-abortion President Barack Obama’s ratings couldn’t slide any lower due to the health care bill he supports, they continue moving downwards. The Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll released Tuesday shows the lowest rating yet for Obama.
The new poll finds just 27% of the nation’s voters strongly approve of Obama’s job performance compared with 42 percent who strongly disagree.
That -15 percentage point index of the most passionate voters one way or the other is the lowest rating for Obama since Rasmussen began polling after he took over the White House.
The poll finds 52% of Democrats strongly approve of Obama’s performance while 68% of Republicans strongly disapprove. Among those key independent voters not affiliated with any party, just 16 percent strongly approve while 51 percent strongly disapprove.
Looking at the more traditional approval rating assessment, instead of those voters most passionate about Obama either way, the Rasmussen poll also shows a historic low for Obama.
Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance. That matches the lowest level of total approval yet measured for this president. Among all voters, 54% now disapprove of his performance.
Some 81 percent of Democrats approve as do 33% of unaffiliated voters while 83 percent of Republicans disapprove.
The health care debate plays a role as support for the health care plan proposed by the President and Congressional Democrats has fallen to a new low of 38%. The bill in the Senate contains massive abortion funding as well as rationing and financing of assisted suicide promotion.
Pollster Scot Rasmussen warned that Obama’s numbers could just as easily go up with better financial news.
"The announcement a week ago of 10.2% unemployment is a significant political event for President Barack Obama. It could well usher in a particularly serious crisis for his political standing, influence and ability to advance his agenda," he wrote recently in the Wall St. Journal.
"Double-digit unemployment drove Ronald Reagan’s disapproval ratings in October 1982 up to a record high 54%. It was only when unemployment dropped to 7.3%, roughly two years later, that he was able to win a landslide victory over Democratic challenger Walter Mondale in the 1984 presidential election," he noted.
Still, Rasmussen indicates the numbers hold out hope for pro-life advocates looking for good election results for Congress next year.
"A detailed look at the available survey data suggests that the difficulties may be more substantial than those suggested by the recent off-year elections," he says. "Obama’s approval among likely voters has dropped to the low-50s in most polls, and the most recent Rasmussen Reports poll of likely voters shows him slightly below the 50% mark. This is a relatively low rating for new presidents."
Rasmussen concludes: "Unless Mr. Obama changes his approach and starts governing in a more fiscally conservative, bipartisan manner, the independents that provided his margin of victory in 2008 and gave the Democrats control of Congress will likely swing back to the Republicans, putting Democratic control of Congress in real jeopardy."
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