Obama ratings take hard hit
Thursday, December 31st, 2009The ratings have dropped dramatically in the face of rising unemployment, a slipping legislative agenda and painful decisions on health care, the economy and the war in Afghanistan, suggesting that he has been hard hit during his first year in office.
According to the Washington Times, his support has faltered on all those key issues – and from both ends of the spectrum. Opponents blame him for expanding the size of government while some in his Democratic base accuse him of not pushing hard enough for his agenda.
As Mr. Obama leads his party into next year’s congressional elections, pollsters say, his overall approval rating – down to an average of 48 percent from 67 percent in January, according to Pollster.com’s aggregate of several national polls – likely will be tied to the unemployment rate, which hovers at 10 percent.
“The economy may be growing and the recession may be over, but on Main Street, people who are unemployed are not happy and people who are worried about being unemployed are not happy,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

