President Obama Ends Year with Lowest Approval Ratings of His Presidency

NEW YORK, Dec. 20, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- As President Obama prepares to bid goodbye to 2010, he ends the year with the lowest approval ratings of his presidency. Almost two-thirds of Americans (64%) give him negative ratings for the overall job he is doing while 36% give him positive ratings. This is down from November when 38% of Americans gave President Obama positive ratings and 62% gave him negative ones.

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These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,331 adults surveyed online between December 6 and 13, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

Looking at his job ratings by political party, over nine in ten Republicans (92%) give the President negative marks as do over two-thirds of Independents (69%). While two-thirds of Democrats (68%) still give President Obama positive ratings, one-third (32%) give him negative marks as do 36% of Liberals. There is an educational difference. Seven in ten of those with a high school or less education (70%) give President Obama negative ratings as do two-thirds of those with some college (65%). However, this drops to half of college graduates (57%) and those with a post-graduate education (54%) who give the President negative ratings.

Congressional approval ratings

Even after the election, things do not look better for Congress.  Just one in ten Americans (11%) give Congress positive marks while 89% give them negative ratings on the overall job they are doing. Although they may have lost control, Democrats are slightly more positive about the job Congress is doing. Just over one in five Democrats (22%) give Congress positive ratings compared to 8% of Independents and 5% of Republicans who do the same.

Direction of the country

One reason all these numbers may be so negative is that the overall attitude about how the country is going is also negative. Currently, just three in ten Americans (29%) say things in the country are going in the right direction while seven in ten (71%) say they are going off on the wrong track. Last month, one-third of Americans (33%) said things were going in the right direction while two-thirds (67%) said they were going off on the wrong track. This is now the lowest the right direction numbers have been since President Obama took office.

So What?

With the dawn of a new year in a few weeks there is also a new Congress and a new political landscape in Washington, D.C. And, for better or worse, it's also the beginning of a 22 month journey to the next presidential election. How President Obama deals with the new Congress and political reality in the next few months will definitely help shape the journey to November 2012. In reality, that may be a long way away, but in politics, it is just around the corner.

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding; * indicates less than .5%

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding; * Indicates less than .05%

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.  **Negative = only fair or poor.

Note: Prior to March, 2009, this question was asked by telephone.

Note: Prior to March, 2009 this question was asked via telephone

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between December 6 to 13, 2010 among 2,331 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.

J39118

Q1205, 1210, 1215

The Harris Poll® #154, December 20, 2010

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

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