The FINANCIAL — The Cherry Blossoms have bloomed and the soft petals are raining beautifully down in the nation's capital.
The FINANCIAL — The Cherry Blossoms have bloomed and the soft petals are raining beautifully down in the nation's capital. But, if you are a politician, whether in Congress or at the White House, April brings more of the same – low approval numbers and a pretty unhappy electorate. President Obama seems mired in the low to mid 30s for positive ratings for the overall job he is doing. In March, just over one-third of Americans (35%) gave him positive ratings while 65% gave him negative ones. This month, one-third of U.S. adults (33%) give him positive marks while two-thirds (67%) give him negative ratings, according to Harris Interactive Inc.
Perceptions of Congress also are holding steady, as more than nine in ten Americans (93%) give them negative ratings this month while 7% give them positive ratings. Last month, 8% of U.S. adults gave them positive ratings while 92% gave them negative marks. What is unchanged is the attitude towards how things in the country are going. For the third month in a row, one-third of Americans (34%) say things in the country are going in the right direction while two-thirds (66%) say things have gotten off on the wrong track.
While the Obama Administration will not have to run for re-election again, they do need to provide support to other Democrats around the nation who do, either through fund-raising, campaigning or sometimes both. But, will Democrats rush to embrace the President if he comes into their district? It's not only his overall job ratings that are low; he also has mostly negative ratings on ten specific issues as well. First, on his handling of the economy one-third of Americans (32%) give him positive ratings while two-thirds (68%) give him negative ratings. This is about the same as March, when he received positive ratings from 31% of U.S. adults and negative marks from 69%. The same number (32%) gives President Obama positive ratings for his handling of jobs, down from 37% in May, 2013.
The "best" issue for the President is his handling of terrorism as just under half (48%) give him positive ratings while the same number give him negative marks. Looking at some other issues:
Healthcare was the president's signature issue for his first term but three in five Americans (59%) give him negative marks while 38% give him positive ones;
Just 36% of Americans give President Obama positive ratings on the job he's doing on education, down from 41% who said this in May of last year;
Earth Day has just passed and just over one-third of U.S. adults (35%) give the President positive ratings on his handling of the environment, down from 41% who said this in May, 2013;
When it comes to foreign policy, just one-third (32%) give the President positive ratings while three in ten (29%) give him positive marks for his handling of the unrest in the Middle East;
Just three in ten Americans (29%) give President Obama positive ratings for his handling of immigration, down from over one-third (35%) who gave him positive marks in May 2013; and, Only one quarter of U.S. Adults (24%) give the President positive ratings for his handling of gun control, down from one-third (33%) in May, 2013.
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