Poll Shows More Americans Disapprove Of Obama; More Favorable View Of U.S.

(RTTNews) - A recent poll from Quinnipiac University showed that while President Barack Obama has seen an increase in his disapproval rating since his inauguration, the mood about how the nation is doing has improved in the first five months of the year.

While Obama's disapproval rating has increased 8 - 10 points since his inauguration, his approval rating has remained relatively steady at 57 percent.

"Those who liked President Obama the most from the start - African-Americans, Democrats, women - still like him by the same margins, but a chunk of voters who were undecided have decided he's not their cup of tea," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in a statement.

"Among independents, men, white Catholics, white evangelical Christians and Republicans, his numbers have fallen, "Brown added. "He still has a ways to go before his coalition becomes politically unstable, but there are some groups and issues - especially the economy - where he needs to make sure this trend does not continue."

The poll, released Wednesday, shows that fewer independent voters support Obama - 52- 37 percent compared to the 57 - 30 percent from January. However, voters overwhelmingly approve of Obama's nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court 54 - 26 percent, evidence that GOP opposition has had minimal impact. On June 4th, the approval was practically the same at 55 - 25 percent.

"Republican complaints about Justice Sotomayor have made no dent in public opinion about her selection," said Brown.

Meanwhile, on the economy, Americans have had a more positive view. While only one percent say the economy is doing "excellent," 7 percent say it is good, 44 percent not so good and 47 percent classify it as poor.

This compares to a survey published March 4th, which showed that 3 percent rated the economy good, 28 percent not so good and 68 percent poor.

A total of 39 percent of voters are somewhat or very satisfied with the way things are going in America, while 60 percent are somewhat or very dissatisfied, the university study found.

In early April, 30 percent said they were very or somewhat satisfied, while 68 percent were somewhat or very dissatisfied.

"We are not talking about big movement here, but the changes have been counterintuitive in that the President has been losing some support, or more accurately alienating more voters, at the same time the country is feeling a bit better about itself and its prospects," Brown said.

He added, "The good news for President Obama is that he is running ahead of where he was on Election Day in November. The bad news is that prospects for building a bipartisan governing coalition appear to be ebbing."

In the March 4 survey, after six weeks in office, Obama got a 59 percent job approval, not statistically different than the current 57 percent. But his 25 percent disapproval has grown to 33 percent in four months.

The biggest shift is among independents, who disapprove at a higher rate than before - jumping from 26 percent to 37 percent; among men from 29 percent to 38 percent and among whites from 29 percent to 39 percent.

"Two areas of potential concern for the White House are voters' declining approval of Obama's handling of the economy and lack of majority support for him on health care," Brown said.

"He still gets a positive 52 - 42 percent approval from the voters on his handling of the economy, but this is down from the 57 - 33 percent grade in March," Brown added. "This is the first time we asked about health care, so there is no comparison, but the current 46 - 42 percent approval is a warning sign that the White House has not yet completed the sale on that issue to the country."

From June 23 - 29, Quinnipiac University surveyed 3,063 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 1.8 percentage points.

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