The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 33% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-six percent (36%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –3. Those figures reflect the highest level of strong disapproval measured to date and the lowest level recorded for the overall Approval Index (see trends).
It remains to be seen whether this decline in the President’s numbers is a temporary aberration, statistical noise, or something more significant. Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be the first update based entirely upon interviews conducted since last week’s report showing higher than expected job losses in June.
Just 27% of voters nationwide favor passage of a second economic stimulus package. Sixty percent (60%) are opposed.
Fifty-four percent (54%) say the average Democrat in Congress is more liberal than they are, while 36% believe the average Republican congressman is more conservative.
Later today, Rasmussen Reports will release a national poll measuring GOP reaction to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s stunning resignation last week. Also coming later will be an early look at the 2012 contest for the Republican nomination. Premium Members can get an advance look at the data.
The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates also available on Twitter.
Overall, 52% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance so far. That, too, is a new low for the President. Forty-seen percent (47%) now disapprove. For other barometers of the President’s performance, see Obama By the Numbers or review recent demographic highlights from the tracking polls.
Due to the holiday weekend, interviews for today’s Presidential Tracking Poll update were conducted July 1, July 5, and July 6.
A look at the month-by-month numbers for the Approval Index highlights longer-term trends that sometimes gets lost in the statistical noise of daily numbers. Also, check out our review of last week’s key polls to see “What They Told Us.”
The plans for General Motors may run afoul of public opinion. Last week, the federal government indicated it might retain ownership of GM until 2018 but 64% of voters favor a sale within a year.
Republicans and Democrats continue to look at the economy in completely different ways. Democrats are evenly divided as to whether or not the economy is getting better. Most Republicans and unaffiliated voters say things are getting worse.
The Daily Prediction Challenge gives you the chance to predict the results of upcoming polls.
When comparing Job Approval data from different firms, it’s important to keep in mind that polls of likely voters and polls of all adults will typically and consistently yield different results. In the case of President Obama, polls by all firms measuring all adults typically show significantly higher approval ratings than polls of likely voters. Polls of registered voters typically fall in the middle. Other factors are also important to consider when comparing Job Approval ratings from different polling firms.
If you’d like Scott Rasmussen to speak at your meeting, retreat, or conference, contact Premiere Speakers Bureau. You can also learn about Scott’s favorite place on earth or his time working with hockey legend Gordie Howe.
A Fordham University professor has rated the national pollsters on their record in Election 2008. We also have provided a summary of our results for your review.
Daily tracking results are collected via telephone surveys of 500 likely voters per night and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. The margin of sampling error—for the full sample of 1,500 Likely Voters–is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Results are also compiled on a full-week basis and crosstabs for full-week results are available for Premium Members.
Like all polling firms, Rasmussen Reports weights its data to reflect the population at large (see methodology). Among other targets, Rasmussen Reports weights data by political party affiliation using a dynamic weighting process. While partisan affiliation is generally quite stable over time, there are a fair number of people who waver between allegiance to a particular party or independent status. Over the past four years, the number of Democrats in the country has increased while the number of Republicans has decreased.
Our baseline targets are established based upon separate survey interviews with a sample of adults nationwide completed during the preceding three months (a total of 45,000 interviews) and targets are updated monthly. Currently, the baseline targets for the adult population are 39.0% Democrats, 32.5% Republicans, and 28.5% unaffiliated. Likely voter samples typically show a slightly smaller advantage for the Democrats.
A review of last week’s key polls is posted each Saturday morning. Other stats on Obama are updated daily on the Rasmussen Reports Obama By the Numbers page. We also invite you to review other recent demographic highlights from the tracking polls.
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