Are problems ranging from the VA scandal to the Bowe Bergdhal swap starting to take their toll on President Obama?
A new Gallup poll finds that personal disapproval of the president is at an all-time high, with 52 percent of U.S. adults holding a negative view of Obama. Just 47 percent had a positive view.
Obama’s personal approval has gone below 50 percent just twice before, once last year during the troubled roll-out of the Obamacare health exchanges, and once in 2010 just prior to the massive Republican win in that year’s midterm elections.
This is the first time, however, that over 50 percent have expressed personal disapproval of the president.
The president’s personal popularity has always outpaced his job approval numbers, which have typically been below 50 percent since 2010. Obama’s personal approval had remained above 50 percent throughout 2014, even as his job approval sagged to just above 40 percent in most polls.
The president is also underwater on all six character measures that Gallup tracks. Less than fifty percent believe that Obama to be honest and trustworthy, that he shares their values, that he “understands Americans’ problems,” or that he is a strong leader. Every single measure is at its lowest level yet measured by Gallup.
It’s an intimidating drop for Obama since 2009, when 78 percent of adults personally approved of the president, and he was over 60 percent on every character measurement.
The poll was conducted from June 5-8 and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points. The random sample consisted of 1,027 U.S. adults.
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