President Obama's Approval Rating Falls 11 Percent in 2010

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(PRINCETON, N.J.) -- In a year marked by slow economic recovery and a highly contentious debate over the new health care law, 47 percent of Americans, on average, approved of the job President Obama was doing, according to data released Wednesday by the Gallup Organization. That’s down 11 percent from 2009.

Residents of the District of Columbia and Hawaii, where Obama was born, were most approving of the president, with average ratings of 84 percent and 66 percent, respectively.

Regionally, President Obama received  the highest approval ratings in the Northeast. Five of the top 10 most approving states were New York, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, all of which gave him an approval rating of 54 percent or higher. 

Half of the least approving states were in the West. Obama’s ratings in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Alaska, and Montana were all below 40 percent, with a meager 28 percent of people in Wyoming saying they approved of the job the president is doing.

Residents in 20 states gave Obama approval ratings within three percentage points of the national average, providing an interesting picture of where the most vivacious campaigning could take place during the 2012 election. These battleground states are likely to include Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, and Nevada -- in all of those states, the president’s approval rating fell within one percentage point of the national average.

Two states that were pivotal in the 2008 election, Wisconsin and Ohio, could present challenges this go-around as both have approval ratings below 50 percent. Wisconsin’s dropped 10 percent since 2009 to 48 percent. On average, 47 percent of people in the Buckeye State approved of the president in 2010, down 8 percent from the previous year. 

Obama’s ratings went down in every state compared to last year. Vermont saw the largest change, dropping 15 percentage points since 2009 to 52 percent. Mississippi changed the least with five percent fewer people approving of the Commander-in-Chief.

Since taking office, President Obama’s highest approval rating was 76 percent, according to a CNN poll in February 2009. His lowest was 41 percent in August 2010 according to Gallup. Comparatively, George W. Bush’s average approval rating while in office was 49 percent. An average of 70 percent of residents approved the job John F. Kennedy was doing while he was in the Oval Office.

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Gallup Finds Fewer Americans Identify Themselves As Democrats

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- A Gallup analysis of interviews of more than 350,000 Americans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia finds that fewer people defined themselves as Democrats in 2010 than did in 2008.

"Every state and the District of Columbia had fewer residents identifying as Democrats, or identifying as independents but leaning Democratic, in 2010 than in 2008," Gallup notes.

In what could come as troubling news for Barack Obama's re-election team, states carried by Obama in 2008, including New Hampshire, Maine, Wisconsin, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, and Nevada, saw some of the most significant shifts away from Democratic identification. Back in 2008, for example, Democrats had an 18-point lead in party affiliation in Wisconsin. By the end of 2010, however, that lead had shrunk to 2.6 percent.

In 2008 there were only seven states -- Alabama, Kansas, Nebraska, Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah -- where the number of people who identified themselves as Republicans outnumbered those who identified themselves as Democrats. By the end of 2010 that had tripled to 22 states.

But, as Gallup notes, "the Democratic losses have not led to major gains in Republican affiliation." Even though they are no longer identifying themselves as Democrats, Americans aren't flocking in droves toward the Republican Party either. Still, party identification doesn't always translate into votes. For example, in West Virginia, self-identified Democrats outnumber self-identified Republicans by 47.6 to 37.9 percent. A Democratic presidential candidate hasn't won West Virginia since 1996.

Ultimately, it means that the Electoral College map looks much more dynamic today than it did at the end of 2008 or even 2009.

These results are based on Gallup Daily tracking. Instead of reporting the number of Americans who identify as independents, Gallup asks those respondents whether they "leaned" more toward Democrats or Republicans. The reason for this, notes Gallup, is that it "allows for a better comparison of party strength across states, given that the percentage of independents varies widely -- from a low of 28% in Kentucky in 2010 to a high of 58% in Rhode Island. Many of the states with higher proportions of independents are dominated electorally by one party, so leaned party identification gives a better sense of the true political orientation of each state."

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Americans Split Between Obama, GOP as Clear US Policy Leaders

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(PRINCETON, N.J.) -- In a poll asking Americans whom they want to have more influence over the nation's direction in the next year, those surveyed were split.  Forty-five percent of Americans wish to see President Obama have more influence, while 42 percent prefer that Republicans influence U.S. policy over the next year.  Previous poll results from fall of last year show American preference for Republicans.

This week, Congress will convene for its first lot of substantive work with Republicans in control of the House, after breaks from the Tucson shootings and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  One of the first items to be addressed is a vote Wednesday on proposed GOP legislation to repeal Obama's health care bill.  Then Republicans plan to take additional steps to challenge other policies of Obama's in the last two years.

The Gallup report also adds that Democrats and Republicans are polarized, naturally, on who should carry more influence.  More than eight out of 10 Democrats want Obama to influence U.S. policy and about the same percentage of Republicans prefer the new GOP majority to have more influence.  While independents remain split, there is an inclination toward Republicans.

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Poll: Americans Doubt Political Rhetoric Major Influence in Ariz. Shooting

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(PRINCETON, N.J.) – A majority of Americans do not believe that political rhetoric was the main cause of the shooting last week in Arizona, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll. 

According to the survey, only 20 percent of Americans believed it to be a major factor that lead to the murders. Twenty-two percent said it was a minor factor, while 42 percent do not believe heated political debate influenced the shooter at all.

The opinion was dramatically different between Democrats and Republicans. Twenty-seven percent of Democrats saw it as a major factor, while 62 percent of Republicans believed it to be a key influence.

Gallup conducted the poll three days after the shooting that claimed the life of six and seriously injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

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Congressional Approval Jumps with New Session

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(PRINCETON, N.J.) -- A new Gallup poll released Tuesday shows that Americans gave a 20 percent approval rating to Congress through the first week of January.

The new numbers are an increase from a record-low approval rating of 13 percent in December and 17 percent in November. The current numbers reflect where they had sat from around May through October of 2010.

A surge in the approval ratings of Republicans helped to lead the overall rebound. From the last Gallup poll in December, GOP approval numbers ballooned to 22 percent, the highest that number has been in nearly two years, from just seven percent the month before.  Democrats saw a modest increase from 16 percent to 24 percent.

Although the poll was taken from January 7th-9th, the same weekend as the tragic shootings in Tucson, Arizona, it does not reflect any drastic changes in the job Congress is doing.

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Huckabee, Palin Top GOP in Poll

Image Courtesy - Getty Images(PRINCETON, N.J.) – As Republicans gear up for a possible run at the presidency in 2012, certain members of the GOP have a name recognition advantage over their competitors, a new poll says.

A Gallup poll taken in the first week of January that surveyed more than 900 Republicans found that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee are at the head of the pack when it comes to name recognition in the Republican Party.

The survey found that 95 percent of respondents recognized Sarah Palin’s name, with Huckabee not far behind at 87 percent. Rounding out a close top four were former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

History shows in this poll that candidates who have been exposed to the national stage have a decided preliminary advantage. Huckabee, Romney, and Palin have all run for national office while Gingrich held federal office.

Gallup also found in the same poll that Huckabee is the most favorable candidate among those surveyed. Respondents were asked to say whether they had a “strongly” favorable or unfavorable opinion of candidates, or just a favorable or unfavorable opinion.

Narrowly trailing Huckabee in that category were Gingrich, Romney, and Palin, respectively.

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Outgoing Congress Scores Near Record Low in Latest Approval Poll

Photo Courtesy - ABC News Radio (PRINCETON, N.J.) -- The 111th Congress was given a 25-percent approval rating from Americans from 2009 to 2010, while 69 percent disapproved, according to the most recent Gallup Poll. That marks the second lowest grade for a two-year period in congressional history, dating back to when the poll was consistently taken beginning in the 1991-1992 session.

Approval numbers have been dropping on a consistent basis since the 107th Congress which had a 55-percent approval rating in the 2001-2002 session. However, this Congress had an approval rating two points higher than in 2007-2008. The two lowest approval ratings in the last 20 years have come with the last two sessions of Congress presided over by Nancy Pelosi. She also presided over a Congress that recorded a record-low 13-percent approval rating in December 2010.

The approval ratings over the last 20 years have also tended to trend with the United States gross domestic product. As the GDP rose, so did the Congressional approval numbers, and vice versa. The notable exception to that flow was following the attacks of September 11th, 2001 when the 107th Congress recorded a 55-percent approval rating.

While this most recent Congress did preside over legislation including healthcare and Wall Street reform, as well as an economic stimulus package, it also increased government spending and regulation of the economy.

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Gallup: Despite Declining Public Approval, 2012 Presidential Nomination Still Possible for Palin

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(PRINCETON, N.J.) -- Results from a resent Gallup poll say that over half of Americans, 52 percent, now hold unfavorable opinions of Sarah Palin.  This percentage is the highest percentage yet to view the former Vice Presidential candidate negatively in Gallup polling since her 2008 nomination for the VP role.

According to Gallup, the public's perception of Palin has declined incrementally since last year.  However, Palin well-positioned to seek nomination for the 2012 Republican presidential candidacy "given her high name recognition and broad popularity among Republicans," Gallup says.

Eighty percent of Republicans still view Palin favorably.

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Gallup Poll: President Obama’s Approval Rating Rises Despite Midterm Election Losses

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(PRINCETON, N.J.) -- President Obama’s approval rating from the American public has risen to 47 percent, an improvement from the 43-percent rating he had earned just days before last week’s midterm elections, according to a recent Gallup Poll.

Past Gallup trends have shown that a president’s approval rating usually declines when his party suffers a midterm loss.  That was the case for Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in 1994 and 2006, respectively.

If President Obama is able to sustain his current rating, Gallup says it would throw off the pattern of recent presidents whose parties suffered major midterm losses. 

Reasons for the uptick in the president’s recent ratings could be related to his post-election speech admitting responsibility for his party’s devastating loss and calling on both parties to bring ideas together for improvement on America’s biggest frustrations.

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