- 15 May 2011 15:32
#13710133
A short one this week. Leading in, how is the president doing?
President Obama received a bounce in the polls following the bin Laden news, but over this past week, the bounce has largely faded. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows that the president’s ratings have slipped back into the high 40s, right where they’ve been for most of the past year-and-a-half. The number who Strongly Disapprove of the president remains a bit lower than it was before the big news and enthusiasm for the president is up among his base voters.
The reason for such a modest bounce is the economy. Sixty-three percent (63%) of the nation’s adults believe the country is still in a recession. While the president is enjoying good reviews for his handling of national security matters, just 34% give him positive marks for handling the economy.
President Obama also spoke on the immigration issue this week and only 30% of voters share his view that the border with Mexico is secure. Most voters favor cutting off funds to sanctuary cities that shelter illegal immigrants.
On another topic with strong economic implications, most voters still favor repeal of the health care law passed a year ago.
In a match-up against a Generic Republican, the president holds a modest edge. Forty-five percent (45%) pick the president while 43% say they’d vote for the GOP candidate. Rasmussen Reports will provide new data on this generic matchup each week until the field of prospective Republican nominees narrows to a few serious contenders. On the Generic Congressional Ballot, Republicans have a similarly modest advantage.
All this comes against a backdrop of skepticism about both political parties in Washington. Just 29% believe the U.S. is heading in the right direction. Only 23% say the Federal Government has the Consent of the Governed. Most (53%) believe that Elections Are Rigged To Help Incumbents in Congress. Among Republican Primary Voters, 64% Believe the gap between the American people and the political elites is bigger than at any time since the American Revolution.
One big reason for this disconnect is that just 25% of voter believe the bailouts were good for the nation.
Other polling this week found that:
56% Favor Bringing Troops Home From Afghanistan Within A Year
65% Want U.S. To Stay Out of Syrian Crisis
50% Are At Least Somewhat Confident in U.S. Banking System
51% Blame Extreme Weather on Long-Term Planetary Trends, 19% Blame Human Activity
50% Give Government Positive Marks for Response to Weather Disasters
20% of workers Classify Themselves As the Working Poor
Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without.
—Edmund Burke
—Edmund Burke