If this was a report card, Barack Obama would be flunking out of school.The latest Harris Poll shows a majority of Americans give President Obama negative ratings on his handling of a dozen major issues.
Among the lowest numbers are for Obama's handling of unemployment, the federal deficit and the war in Afghanistan.
From the Harris Poll:
As President Obama's overall approval rating continues to slide, he cannot find much solace in Americans' opinions on his handling of 12 different issues as he does not have a positive rating on any of these.For more numbers from the Harris Poll, visit www.harrisinteractive.com
The top one for President Obama is reducing the threat of terrorist attack with 41% giving his job on this a positive rating, down from 49% who said so in August. Two in five Americans also give the President positive marks on the environment (40%, down from 43% in August) and education (40% up from 37% in August).
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,293 adults surveyed online between October 5 and 12, 2009 by Harris Interactive.
President Obama is dealing with two different wars - one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan - and the American public is not pleased with his handling of either of them. In August two in five U.S. adults (42%) gave the president positive marks on his handling of the war in Iraq. Currently, that number has dropped to 34% while 66% give President Obama negative ratings on this war. The numbers for Afghanistan have gone down even more. In August, two in five (41%) gave the president positive ratings on the war in Afghanistan but now just one-quarter of Americans (27%) give him positive marks while 73% give him negative ratings.
The president has also spent a great deal of time trying to win the American public's support for his health reform plan but does not seem to be making much headway on this issue. Just three in ten Americans (31%) give President Obama positive ratings on his handling of health care while 69% give him negative ratings. In August, over one-third (35%) of U.S. adults gave the president positive ratings on this issue.
Looking at economic issues at least two-thirds of Americans give him negative ratings on all of these issues. On the economy overall, 67% give the president negative marks while one-third (33%) give him positive ones. In September, 40% gave President Obama positive marks on his handling of the economy. More specifically on his handling of regulating the financial system three in ten Americans (31%) give the president positive ratings while 69% give him negative marks. In August, 37% of Americans gave the president's job on this positive marks.
When it comes to the issue of taxes, three in ten Americans (29%) give the president positive marks on his handling of this issue while 71% give him negative ratings. Just one-quarter of Americans (26%) gives the president's handling of employment/unemployment a positive rating, down from 31% who felt this way in August. And, his lowest number is on the federal budget deficit where almost four in five Americans (78%) give President Obama negative marks and only 22% give him positive ratings.
So what?
The President needs a win, whether it is health care reform, some good economic numbers that matter to the American people or a change in Afghanistan. But, until he has something that resonates with the American public in a positive light, there is a sense that a negative attitude will permeate over all issues. One thing to note, education has actually ticked up a little and the White House had put forth their new education initiatives recently. Maybe this is the one issue that they should focus on for the near term, as long as they don't take their eye off of the economy.
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