New Low: Obama Hits 39% Approval

Marist has The One continuing to sink:

President Barack Obama faces a litany of bad news.  The president’s job approval rating, his favorability, and his rating on the economy have hit all-time lows.  To compound matters, three in four Americans still believe the nation is in a recession and the proportion who thinks the country is moving in the wrong direction is at its highest point in more than a decade.

According to this McClatchy-Marist Poll, the president’s approval rating is at 39% among registered voters nationally, an all-time low for Mr. Obama.  For the first time a majority — 52% — disapproves of the job he is doing in office, and 9% are unsure.

“President Obama needs to reboot his presidency,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.  “Although numbers like these typically spell doom for an incumbent’s re-election prospects, the Republicans in Congress and eventually his GOP opponent could still provide Obama with running room.”

President Obama’s current approval rating is his lowest since last December when 42% of voters thought his performance fell short.  When McClatchy-Marist last reported this question in its August 9^th survey, voters divided about how the president was performing in office.  44% of the national electorate approved while 46% disapproved.  10%, at the time, were unsure.

Other presidents have hit rough patches in the polls at this point in their presidencies and gone on to win re-election, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton being two cases in point. But they had economies on the rebound, while Obama doesn’t. And the downside of his mortal combat approach to the economy means any economic rebound is unlikely to occur at all. So, in order to win, he will have to scorch the earth.