So...How's He Doing? One Year Later, Americans Rate The President
President Obama concludes his first year in office with the majority of Americans (56%) approving of the way he is handling his job, according to a new AP-GfK poll released today.
Though his approval ratings have declined from a high of 73% in December, 2008, Mr. Obama has garnered high marks from the majority of Americans at generally consistent levels for six straight months now.
One year into his presidency, solid majorities of Americans agree Mr. Obama understands the problems of ordinary Americans (67%), is a strong leader (67%), cares about people “like you” (65%), and will keep America safe (64%). And two Americans in three (66%) believe that Mr. Obama will be able to keep at least some of his campaign promises (though this is down from 82% a year ago).
Americans are also more likely to say they trust the Democrats – rather than the Republicans – to handle the economy (49% versus 40% who trust the Republicans) and health care (48% versus 38%, respectively). Americans are more likely to trust protecting the country to Republicans, however (47% versus 42%).
Yet, Mr. Obama’s favorability on a number of measures has declined over the past year, a period characterized by high unemployment, a faltering economy, historic battles over health-care legislation, an attempted terrorist attack, foreign-policy challenges over environmental policy, and the humanitarian disaster in Haiti.
President Obama no longer enjoys majority support that he did in the Spring of 2009 on many of the specific issues most important to Americans. Only about half now support the President’s policies on terrorism (54%, down from 59% in April, 2009), health care (48%, down from 53%), the economy (47%, down from 58%), and unemployment (46%, down from 59%). Fewer than half now support Mr. Obama’s handling of the federal budget deficit (39%, down from 49%). And only 46% today say that he is an “above average” or “outstanding” president – down from 65% a year ago.
And while over half of Americans (55%) agree it is too early to judge if President Obama is living up his promises regarding “change,” more and more agree Mr. Obama is trying to change things too quickly – 40%, up from 32% in April, 2009. Only one in three (34%) believes the President is changing things at the right pace, down from 51% in April of last year.
