Poll: Grouchy Public Sticks With Obama

Americans sour on handling of economy, Afghanistan

(NEWSER) - Less than half of Americans polled approve of President Obama’s performance for the first time. A new Quinnipiac survey has his job approval rating at 48%, with 42% disapproving. Other polls have his rating at 53% and 56%, and a Quinnipiac pollster admits the new number “is not statistically different" from his 50% approval rating in October. "Nevertheless,” he tells Politics Daily , “in politics symbols matter.” More»

Tuesday troop surge announcement comes as approval falters

(NEWSER) - President Obama will announce his decision to send 20,000 to 40,000 more troops to fight in Afghanistan in a speech to West Point cadets next Tuesday at 8pm. His remarks will outline a surge, but administration officials say the president is not making a case for an open-ended war. “We are in year nine of our time in Afghanistan,” says Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. “We’re not going to be there another eight or nine years.” More»

Americans' opinion of Iraq effort most upbeat in 5 years

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama echoes most Americans’ war views, if not those of his national-security team, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. Though 27% fewer Americans are pessimistic about efforts in Iraq compared to 2 years ago, 70% say they want troops withdrawn within 16 months, as Obama has promised. Most—67%—say that war is not worth fighting, while 55% say the one in Afghanistan is. More»

Numbers are lower in nearly every area since 2010

(NEWSER) - More data from the latest Gallup poll is trickling out, and—surprise, surprise!—it's not good news for President Obama. When it comes to handling the economy, his approval rating has sunk to a new low of 26%. That's down 11 percentage points since mid-May; his previous low was 35% in November 2010. A whopping 71% disapprove of his handling of the economy—a new high, ABC News notes. Not to mention, just 24% approve of his handling of the federal budget deficit, and 29% approve of his job creation tactics. More»

Two-thirds think the Afghanistan war isn't worth fighting

(NEWSER) - The economy, rising gas prices, and the Afghan war have Americans in a foul mood about their government, according to a new poll from ABC and the Washington Post . Some highlights:

• Only 26% are optimistic about "our system of government and how well it works," the lowest since the surveys began in 1974; about 23% are pessimistic, and a record high are "uncertain."
• Gas prices present a financial hardship for 71%, with 44% calling it a "serious" hardship.