Obama's Approval Rating Slips Amid Division Over Economic Proposals
GOP Congressional Leaders' Ratings Hit New Low - 28%
people-press.org
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There are no signs in the poll that Republican congressional leaders are benefiting from the public’s concern about major economic policies. In fact, approval of Republican congressional leaders has fallen from 34% in February to 28% currently, the lowest rating for GOP leaders in nearly 14 years of Pew Research surveys. Republicans, in particular, have become less supportive of their party’s leaders in Congress: just 43% of Republicans approve of their job performance, down from 55% just a month ago. By contrast, nearly half of Americans (47%) approve of the job Democratic congressional leaders are doing.
In addition, no single Republican figure, either in Congress or elsewhere, has emerged as the party’s leader. When asked who they think of as the leader of the Republican Party, 73% either say they do not know (58%), or volunteer that there is no leader (15%). John McCain is mentioned most frequently, but just 11% name the Arizona senator as leader of the Republican Party.
While Obama’s job approval ratings have edged down, they remain on par with George W. Bush’s ratings in March 2001 (55% approved, 25% disapproved). The balance of opinion regarding Obama is more positive than it was for Clinton in March 1993: At that time, 53% gave Clinton a positive job rating compared with 34% who gave him a negative rating.
Since February, views of the new president have become much more partisan. Currently, just 27% of Republicans approve of the way he is handling his job while 56% disapprove. In February, 34% of Republicans approved of Obama’s job performance and 41% disapproved. Democrats continue to express overwhelmingly positive views of Obama (88% approve), while more than twice as many independents approve (57%) as disapprove (27%) of his job performance. However, the balance of opinion among independents was much more positive in February (63% approve, 14% disapprove).
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