Poll: Few Americans approve of Obama’s handling of economy
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Americans give President Obama his lowest job approval rating on dealing with the economy, his main domestic issue, according to the latest Gallup poll released Monday afternoon.
According to the poll, only 36% of those surveyed said they approved of how Obama is handling the economy, the same number as those who said they approved of how he handled the healthcare overhaul. Only Obama’s handling of the federal budget deficit did worse, with just 32% approving of the president’s job performance.
The poll found that Obama’s job approval rating in handling foreign issues, at 51%, is slightly up from January. Americans gave Obama a 54% approval on education issues, his highest rating on any issue.
The two topics, education and foreign affairs, were the only ones to have a majority of Americans backing Obama. Americans remain almost evenly split on how the president was handling terrorism issues, with 48% approving and 49% disapproving.
“Obama’s ratings on Afghanistan, foreign affairs, education, terrorism, and healthcare policy have remained roughly the same or have increased at least slightly compared to the last time they were measured,” according to Gallup. “His ratings on his handling of Iraq, the deficit, and the economy are down from the last time they were measured.”
The results are a bit ominous for Obama’s calls for a bipartisan approach to dealing with major issues. The president will meet this week with congressional leaders of both parties and has scheduled a bipartisan healthcare summit for later in the month.
According to the poll, Obama, not surprisingly, scores best among Democrats, and those who say they are Republicans rank Obama much worse. Independents are in between, but do not reach a majority in any of the issues.
--Michael Muskal
