Negative Job Ratings for President Obama and Congress

NEW YORK, April 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The spring season is supposed to be a time of renewal and hope. For President Obama and Congress, the winter was rough and spring hasn't been much better with a heated budget showdown and talk of a potential government shutdown. While it may be expected at this point, Americans do not like seeing their elected officials spar so bitterly and this is reflected in lower job ratings across the board. For President Obama, more than three in five U.S. adults (62%) give him negative ratings on the overall job he is doing while 38% give him positive marks. This is down from last month when 39% of Americans gave the President positive ratings and 61% negative. This month marks the President's lowest ratings this year.

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These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,402 adults surveyed online between April 11 and 18, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

It's not surprising that nine in ten Republicans (91%) and Conservatives (90%) give the President negative marks. But he is also receiving negative ratings from over half of Moderates (55%) and over two-thirds of Independents (69%). Support among his base is also not as strong as the White House would probably like. Three in ten Democrats give President Obama negative marks (31%) as do one-quarter of Liberals (27%).

Congressional approval and direction of the country

While President Obama may be in negative territory, he is still doing better than Congress. Just 8% of Americans give Congress positive marks for the overall job they are doing while over nine in ten (92%) give them negative ratings. This is a new low point for Congress and down from 10% positive and 90% negative last month.

Also, even though Republicans may control the House and Democrats the Senate, there are no partisan differences in congressional job ratings. Over nine in ten Republicans (92%), Democrats (93%) and Independents (93%) give Congress negative marks. In fact, three in five Independents (60%) give Congress a rating of poor – the lowest in our scale.

The mood of the country is also turning more negative. Just one-quarter of Americans (26%) feel that things in the country are moving in the right direction while three-quarters (74%) believe they are heading down the wrong track. This is down from last month when 28% felt things were moving in the right direction and 72% believed they were going off on the wrong track and the lowest since 2009.

So What?

There is a saying that you shouldn't air your dirty laundry in public. With the current budget showdown, that's exactly what Congress and the White House seemed to do and the American public did not like it. They know it's not easy and they know there are confrontations, but with the threat of a government shutdown only averted at the 11th hour, voters seemed to believe everyone was to blame for that messy display. There are still months to go before all these individuals face a re-election, so hopefully Americans forget the past few weeks by then.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between April 11 to 18, 2011 among 2,402 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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Q1205, 1210, 1215

The Harris Poll^® #51, April 21, 2011

By Regina 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.

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SOURCE Harris Interactive