Rasmussen Reports...Obama's Approval "Falls Off The Cliff"

Between Debbie Wassserman Schultz' claim that the economy was turning around, and Obama's joke about shovel ready projects, if the President, and the progressive Democratic party leadership has proven anything over the past few days, it is that they are out of touch with the American people. And the American people are beginning to understand the progressive's distance from the voters.

There is a wealth of polling data coming from Rasmussen over the past few days, that signal problems for the President.  For example the chart below reflects the President's overall approval/disapproval ratings since his Bin Laden announcement.

You will notice that right after the announcement the President's approval (Blue line) took a bump up, but that advantage was quickly dissipated. For the next month, the approval/disapproval numbers remained close until the bad economic data and comments such as the ones described above began to take their toll. Today there is a nine percent spread between those who disapprove (54%) and those who approve (45%) of the President's performance.

What should be particularly troubling for the President is that 62% of independent voters disapprove of Obama's performance (37% approve).  Independents are likely to be the difference in the 2012.


Obama's approval index shows the same pattern. Approval index is the difference between those who strongly approve and strongly disapprove of the president's performance. This number is important because a voter with a strong opinion regarding a president's performance is more likely to work for or against the reelection of that president. Obama's approval index was at a -11 at the time if the Bin Laden mission.


It remained approximately in the same place until late last week when it fell to -19.  Just like the overall approval numbers, the independent voters show a strong negative feeling about Obama's performance with a -29 approval index.

Approval numbers are not the only statistic indicating voter frustration with President Obama.

• Almost two thirds of voters (65%) feel the country is going in the wrong direction

• 44% of voters blame the lousy economy on Obama (vs 49% who blame Bush). Last month it was only 39% blaming Obama, and 54% Bush.  Just as important is the fact that more independents (45%) blame Obama than Bush (44%).

• Only 28% of all voters and 23% of independents trust Obama on the economy more than they trust themselves.

• The President is seen as very liberal. 42% of voters see Obama as very liberal, 24% as somewhat liberal. Only 25% see him as a moderate. Independents generally agree, 39% see him as very liberal, 28% see him as somewhat liberal and only 23% see him as a moderate.  As US voters tend to be center-right, those very liberal numbers should be a concern for Obama's reelection team.

Putting it all together it is all bad news for the President. The only  good news (for him) is that there is a very long time between now and November 2012.  Over the next 17 months the Republicans need to keep pounding on the Presidential poor economic performance to ensure that America can elect a new president and turn itself around.

New Poll: Almost Two-Thirds of Voters Want a Balanced Budget Amendment

Since Congress won’t fix the problem, Americans want a Constitutional amendment to protect them from Congress. A new Sachs/Mason-Dixon Poll released by the Daily Caller this afternoon finds that almost two out of every three Americans (65%) support a constitutional amendment that would require the budget to be balanced every year.

“Americans are concerned about our nation’s deepening deficit and as a result, an overwhelming number support a balanced budget amendment,” said Alia Faraj-Johnson, Partner and Executive Vice President of Ron Sachs Communications. “Candidates from both parties would be wise to support the measure, which will help keep Congress’ spending in check and ensure our government is tightening its belt, like many American families.”

Support for the Amendment is wide-spread; Republicans (81%) and Independents (68%) support an amendment.  As expected Democrats are more reluctant to give up their “political crack,” but still slightly more 45% support the amendment than oppose it.

A balanced budget amendment would put the federal government on the same footing as most of the state budgets. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures 45 of the 50 states have a constitutional provision requiring that the budget be balanced each year.  Four states are required to have a balanced budget by statute only (and we know how easy it is to amend statutes). One state, Vermont has neither.  

The survey also reports that 46% of Americans would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who supports a balanced budget amendment while 21% indicated they would be less likely to vote for such a candidate.

Just as with the first question there are vast differences depending on party affiliation. Only 21% of Democrats would be more likely to support such a candidate (versus 37% who would be less likely), 64% of Republicans would be more likely (versus 7% less likely) and 51% of Independents (versus 19%).

Two things could be gleaned from these results. First the American people are serious they want the country to find a way to dig out of the budgetary hole we created by over spending. The second point is for potential GOP presidential candidates. Unless a particular candidate is hoping to get most of its votes from the opposition party, there is no downside to supporting a balanced budget amendment, Republicans and Independents both will be more likely to vote for a candidate supporting the amendment.

American's simply do not trust politicians to fix the problem themselves, only through an amendment to the Constitution will our leaders be forced to deal with the hard choices that need to be made.