Obama’s approval rating remains at a record low

For many people facing natural disasters and a turbulent economy, this indeed has been the summer of discontent. Perhaps none has felt that malaise more than President Obama, whose approval rating continues to hover at its record low average of 40%, according to the Gallup daily tracking poll released on Tuesday.

The last time Obama’s average weekly job approval rating was at least a majority, 50%, among all Americans was the week of May 30 to June 5, according to Gallup. Since then, the president’s approval rating has steadily evaporated to where in the group’s latest computations, only African Americans, Democrats and liberals continue to give Obama majority support.

At 83%, Obama continues to receive broad support from blacks, despite recent criticisms from some African American leaders, notably the Congressional Black Caucus, that Obama has not done enough to deal with the economic downturn and the lack of jobs, especially for blacks.

The poll, however, found that less than a majority of Latinos, 44%, continue to approve of Obama. The loss of support among Latinos follows the continuing erosion of Obama’s approval from other key groups, including postgraduates and high-income Americans.

According to Gallup, the president’s approval rating has leveled off at the low point of his presidency, averaging 40% for the third straight week.

While that sounds grim, there may be a silver lining because the leveling off could indicate a bottoming out of Obama’s decline. The Aug. 22-28 weekly average of Gallup Daily tracking has Obama’s worst three-day showing: 38% approval and 55% disapproval. Gallup said it suspended Daily tracking on Sunday because of the hurricane conditions in the East.

The results are based on telephone interviews with 3,062 adults conducted Aug. 22 to Sunday. The margin of error is plus or minus two percentage points.