Americans Give President Obama Negative Ratings on Jobs, Economy, Healthcare, Education and His Handling of the Unrest in the Middle East

NEW YORK, March 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- All presidents have to deal with the same issue – too many things on their desk at once. For President Obama that has been especially true since he took office between the economy, dealing with health care reform, and now the unrest in the Middle East.  In looking at the his handling of some of these issues, the American public is not impressed. In fact, majorities give President Obama negative ratings on his handling of 5 of 6 different issues.

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These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 3,171 adults surveyed online between February 14 and 21, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

More specifically:

• Two-thirds of Americans (66%) give the president negative ratings on his handling of jobs while three in ten (29%) give him positive marks on this;
• Looking at the economy overall, over three in five U.S. adults (62%) give President Obama negative ratings while one-third (33%) give him positive ones. In January, 67% gave the President negative ratings;
• The President spent a large part of last year pushing forward his health care reform package, yet almost three in five Americans (58%) give him negative ratings on his handling of it while 37% give him positive ratings;
• As the issue of education, from teachers' unions to reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, takes a more prominent role, half of Americans (52%) give President Obama negative ratings on his handling of this issue and two in five (39%) give him positive marks;
• The world has watched as the unrest in the Middle East moves from country to country and the situation changes on a daily basis. A majority of Americans (52%) give President Obama negative ratings on his handling of the situation there while 39% give him positive marks; and,
• There is a closer divide when it comes to the issue of the environment. Just under half of Americans (48%) give President Obama negative ratings while 41% give him positive marks on his handling on this issue.

As a whole, Democrats are much more positive than Republicans on how President Obama is handling each of these six issues. For example, two-thirds of Democrats (66%) give President Obama positive ratings on his handling of health care compared to one in ten Republicans (9%) who do the same.

So What?

Back in 1992, James Carville posted a simple phrase in the Clinton campaign war room – "It's the Economy, Stupid." That sentiment hasn't changed and when just half of Democrats (51%) give President Obama positive marks on his handling of jobs, that is not a good sign as the President starts planning his re-election.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between February 14 to 21, 2011 among 3,171 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

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The Harris Poll^® #28, March 2, 2011

By Regina A. Corso, SVP, Harris Poll, Public Relations and Youth Research, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

SOURCE Harris Interactive