COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: 50 Percent Approve of President Obama, but 57 Percent Disapprove of Country’s Direction. “The latest Reason-Rupe poll finds President Obama enjoys a 50 percent approval rating, 7 points higher than his 43 percent disapproval. However, this isn’t much different from a similar time period in President George W. Bush’s presidency. In May 2005, the year after his re-election, Bush’s approval rating hovered around 48 percent. Also in May 2005, the NBC/WSJ poll found 52 percent of Americans said the country was headed in the wrong direction. Today, slightly more, 57 percent say America is headed in the wrong direction, 34 percent say the country is headed in the right direction. Slightly more Americans approve of the president’s handling of the economy, 47 disapprove and 45 percent approve.”