President Obama's Approval Ratings Almost Unchanged Post-Election

Just one-third of Americans believe country going in right direction

News provided by

Harris Interactive

Nov 23, 2010, 10:42 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- With the Congressional elections in his rear view mirror, President Obama looks ahead to working with a Republican House of Representatives with a positive job approval rating of 38% and a negative rating of 62%. This is not much different than where his ratings stood right before the election when 37% of Americans gave him positive ratings and 63% gave him negative marks for overall job he was doing.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100517/NY06256LOGO )

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,151 adults surveyed online between November 8 and 15, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

It is not surprising that over nine in ten Republicans (93%) and 88% of Conservatives give the President negative ratings. But one-third of Democrats (33%) and three in ten Liberals (30%) also give him negative marks for his job performance. Among Independents, almost two-thirds (64%) give President Obama negative ratings as do six in ten (59%) Moderates.

Education and region show some differences in the President's approval rating. Those in the East are more likely than those in the South to give President Obama positive ratings (44% vs. 33%). Also, those with higher education are more likely to give the President positive marks on the overall job he is doing.  Just three in ten Americans with a high school degree or less (30%) give the President positive marks, but that rises to 40% of those with some college education, 45% of those with a college degree and 56% of those with a post graduate degree.

Congress' approval ratings

While there may have been a change in control of Congress, there has not been much of a change in attitude towards them.  Just over one in ten Americans (13%) give Congress positive marks for the overall job they are doing while 87% give them negative marks. Before the election, 11% gave them positive marks while 89% gave them negative ratings.

Direction of country and most important issue

When it comes to how things in the country are going, one-third of Americans (33%) say things are going in the right direction while two-thirds (67%) say they are going off on the wrong track. Again, this is not much changed from last month when 34% of U.S. adults said things were going in the right direction and 66% said they were going off on the wrong track.

One reason for the negativity may be that the same two items again top the list of the two most important issues for the government to address. Over one-third of Americans (36%) say government should address employment/jobs while one-third (33%) say they should address the economy. Three in ten (30%) say the most important issue is healthcare, while 10% say it is budget and government spending. Just under one in ten say the government needs to address immigration (8%) and the deficit/national debt (8%).

So What?

The 2010 Congressional elections proved to be historic and game changing. In January, a new Congress will be sworn in with record numbers of freshmen. But, for the American public this is still the same old, same old. This new Congress comes in with a mandate of sorts, and the voters will be watching closely to make sure attention is paid to the issues of importance to them – the economy and jobs. Until those two issues are seen as moving in a positive direction, the angry voters will continue to be angry.

TABLE 1

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOB RATING - TREND

"How would you rate the overall job President Barack Obama is doing?"

Base: All adults

  

 

2009

  

Mar

April

May

June

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

  

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

  

POSITIVE

55

58

59

54

51

49

45

43

41

  

  Excellent

17

18

17

14

11

11

10

9

7

  

  Pretty good

38

40

42

39

39

38

35

33

33

  

NEGATIVE

45

42

41

46

49

51

55

57

59

  

  Only fair

27

26

25

25

25

25

27

29

30

  

  Poor

18

15

16

21

24

26

28

29

30

  

 		  
                   
 

 		  

 

2010

  

Jan

Mar

April

May

June

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

  

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

  

POSITIVE

40

41

41

42

39

40

38

37

38

  

  Excellent

9

9

9

10

6

9

9

8

8

  

  Pretty good

31

32

31

32

33

31

29

29

30

  

NEGATIVE

60

59

59

58

61

60

62

63

62

  

  Only fair

30

28

26

28

29

26

28

30

29

  

  Poor

30

31

33

30

32

34

34

33

33

  

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

  
                   
 

TABLE 2

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOB RATING – BY PARTY & IDEOLOGY

"How would you rate the overall job President Barack Obama is doing?"

Base: All adults

  

 

Total

Political party

Political Philosophy

  

Rep.

Dem.

Ind.

Cons.

Mod.

Lib.

  

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

  

POSITIVE

38

7

67

36

12

41

70

  

  Excellent

8

1

19

3

3

8

17

  

  Pretty good

30

6

48

32

9

33

53

  

NEGATIVE

62

93

33

64

88

59

30

  

  Only fair

29

25

27

32

21

37

22

  

  Poor

33

68

6

32

67

22

7

  

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

  
               
 

TABLE 3

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOB RATING – BY REGION, EDUCATION & GENDER

"How would you rate the overall job President
Barack Obama is doing?"

Base: All adults

  

 

Total

Region

Education

Gender

  

East

Midwest

South

West

H.S. or less

Some college

College grad

Post grad

Men

Women

  

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

  

POSITIVE

38

44

39

33

39

30

40

45

56

35

41

  

  Excellent

8

9

7

8

9

7

5

11

19

8

9

  

  Pretty good

30

35

32

25

30

23

35

33

37

28

32

  

NEGATIVE

62

56

61

67

61

70

60

55

44

65

59

  

  Only fair

29

30

28

27

31

35

25

24

22

27

31

  

  Poor

33

26

33

40

29

35

35

31

22

38

28

  

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

  
                       
 

TABLE 4

CONGRESS' OVERALL JOB RATING

"How would you rate the overall job Congress is doing?"

Base: All adults

  

 

Total

Political Party

  

Rep.

Dem.

Ind.

  

%

%

%

%

  

POSITIVE

13

5

23

8

  

  Excellent

1

*

3

*

  

  Pretty good

12

4

21

8

  

NEGATIVE

87

95

77

92

  

  Only fair

39

27

49

39

  

  Poor

48

69

28

53

  

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

  
         
 

TABLE 5

CONGRESS' OVERALL JOB RATING – TREND

"How would you rate the overall job the Congress is doing?"

Base: All adults

  

 

TREND

Positive*

Negative**

  

%

%

  

2010

November

13

87

  

 

October

11

89

  

September

13

87

  

August

15

85

  

June

14

86

  

May

15

85

  

April

16

84

  

March

10

90

  

Jan.

16

84

  

2009

Dec.

17

83

  

 

Oct.

16

84

  

Sept.

19

81

  

Aug.

22

78

  

June

25

75

  

March

29

71

  

2008

October

10

86

  

 

August

18

77

  

June

13

83

  

February

20

76

  

2007

December

17

79

  

 

October

20

77

  

April

27

69

  

February

33

62

  

2006

September

24

73

  

 

May

18

80

  

February

25

71

  

January

25

72

  

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

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

  
       
 

TABLE 6

RIGHT DIRECTION OR WRONG TRACK

"Generally speaking, would you say things in the country are going in the right direction or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?"

Base: All adults

  

 

TREND

Right Direction

Wrong Track

  

%

%

  

2010

November

33

67

  

 

October

34

66

  

September

36

64

  

August

35

65

  

June

34

66

  

April

39

61

  

March

33

67

  

2009

December

37

63

  

 

August

46

54

  

January

19

72

  

2008

October

11

83

  

 

February

23

69

  

2007

December

18

74

  

 

February

29

62

  

2006

May

24

69

  

 

February

32

59

  

2005

November

27

68

  

 

January

46

48

  

2004

September

38

57

  

 

June

35

59

  

2003

December

35

57

  

 

June

44

51

  

2002

December

36

57

  

 

June

46

48

  

2001

December

65

32

  

 

June

43

52

  

2000

October

50

41

  

 

June

40

51

  

1999

June

37

55

  

 

March

47

45

  

1998

December

43

51

  

 

June

48

44

  

1997

December

39

56

  

 

April

36

55

  

1996

December

38

50

  

 

June

29

64

  

1995

December

26

62

  

 

June

24

65

  

1994

December

29

63

  

 

June

28

65

  

1993

June

21

70

  

 

March

39

50

  

1992

June

12

81

  

 

January

20

75

  

1991

December

17

75

  

 

January

58

32

  

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

  
       
 

TABLE 7

MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE

"What do you think are the two most important issues

for the government to address?"

Spontaneous, unprompted replies

Base: All adults

  

 

'97

'98

'99

'00

'01

'02

'03

'04

'05

'06

07

08

09

09

10

10

10

10

10

  

May

Jan

Feb

Aug

Dec

Dec

June

Oct

Aug

June

Oct

Oct

Mar

Nov

Jan

Apr

June

Sept

Nov

  

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

  

Employment/jobs

5

3

4

4

7

8

8

10

3

7

5

5

21

24

31

34

28

37

36

  

The economy (non-specific)

8

9

7

5

32

34

25

28

19

14

13

64

50

34

32

27

28

34

33

  

Healthcare (not Medicare)

10

11

12

15

5

10

14

18

11

12

25

22

25

47

45

34

23

24

30

  

Budget/Government spending

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

5

6

2

6

11

7

9

10

11

10

  

Immigration

2

1

*

1

1

1

2

2

3

20

12

3

4

5

5

7

12

10

8

  

Budget deficit/National debt

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

3

X

X

8

8

6

8

  

Taxes

14

16

12

13

6

5

11

8

5

4

3

6

4

4

4

7

4

7

7

  

Education

15

14

21

25

12

11

13

7

8

7

6

6

5

5

5

6

6

6

6

  

Social security

6

6

24

16

3

2

4

4

10

5

3

3

1

2

1

2

2

2

4

  

(The) war

X

X

X

X

12

18

8

35

41

27

24

14

9

9

2

6

6

4

4

  

Environment

3

2

3

3

1

3

2

1

3

3

3

2

3

4

3

3

7

3

2

  

(Programs for) the poor/ poverty

3

2

2

3

1

2

3

*

4

4

4

*

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

  

Downsizing government

X

X

X

1

*

X

X

1

*

1

1

*

1

2

2

3

2

2

2

  

Terrorism

X

X

X

X

22

17

11

7

7

4

4

3

4

3

6

2

3

2

2

  

Foreign policy (non-specific)

3

5

4

3

2

4

2

3

2

2

4

2

3

2

2

2

2

2

2

  

Medicare

4

5

5

6

1

1

4

3

2

1

3

2

*

*

*

*

*

*

2

  

Housing

X

X

X

X

X

1

1

*

*

1

2

2

6

1

1

1

1

2

1

  

Regulating banking/financial services

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

*

8

1

3

4

2

2

1

  

Ethics in government

*

*

*

*

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

  

National security

X

X

2

2

6

3

6

5

2

2

2

5

2

1

4

3

2

2

1

  

Business accountability/bailouts

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

2

1

  

Energy

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

1

4

4

1

4

3

1

1

2

5

1

1

  

Obama/president

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

*

*

1

1

1

1

1

1

  

Welfare

14

8

4

2

1

1

3

*

3

1

2

*

*

1

*

1

1

1

1

  

Military/defense

2

2

2

4

4

1

5

3

1

4

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

  

Human/civil/women's rights

2

1

*

1

1

1

*

1

1

1

2

*

*

1

1

*

1

1

1

  

Religion (decline of)

*

1

*

1

2

1

1

1

*

1

1

*

*

*

*

1

1

1

1

  

Homeland/domestic security/public safety

X

X

X

X

8

9

3

6

2

2

2

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

  

Gas and oil prices

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

1

10

8

2

1

1

1

*

1

*

1

1

  

Same sex rights

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

1

2

*

*

1

1

1

1

*

*

1

  

Iraq

*

*

1

X

X

11

3

9

6

8

14

7

2

4

2

2

2

*

1

  

Inflation

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

2

3

*

1

1

*

*

*

*

1

  

Crime/violence

19

13

8

10

1

2

3

1

3

2

2

1

*

1

1

1

*

1

*

  

Afghanistan

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

2

*

  

Judicial/Legal Issues

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

*

2

1

1

*

1

1

1

1

1

*

*

  

Homelessness

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

*

1

1

3

*

*

1

1

*

*

1

*

  

Honesty/Integrity/Moral Values

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

*

1

1

1

*

  

Middle East peace process between Palestinians and Israel

X

X

X

X

2

2

2

*

1

*

*

1

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

  

Abortion

2

2

2

6

1

1

1

4

2

1

2

1

1

1

1

*

*

*

*

  

Family values (decline of)

2

1

2

1

*

*

1

1

1

1

1

*

*

X

*

*

x

*

*

  

Domestic/social issues (non-specific)

2

3

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

3

3

1

1

1

2

2

2

*

*

  

Peace/world peace/nuclear arms

1

3

3

1

2

2

3

*

1

1

2

*

*

*

*

1

*

*

*

  

Socialism agenda/country's socialism

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

*

1

*

*

*

*

  

Programs for the elderly (not Medicare/Social Security)

1

1

1

2

1

1

3

*

*

*

1

1

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

  

Drugs

8

6

2

5

2

3

3

*

2

1

3

*

1

*

*

1

*

*

*

  

Oil Spill in Gulf/BP oil spill

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

20

x

x

  

Other(1)

8

19

2

19

3

8

8

8

1

6

5

15

5

3

1

3

2

5

6

  

Not sure/refused/no issue

9

12

16

18

11

10

12

9

8

6

8

4

4

3

2

2

4

1

2

  

* = Less than 0.5%, X = Not mentioned as specific issue

(1) Including prescription drug prices, credit problems, trade, disability, corporate scandals, right to bear arms, youth and government (other)

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

  
                                       
 

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between November 8 to 15, 2010 among 2,151 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.

J39117

Q1205, 1208, 1210, 1215

The Harris Poll® #145, November 23, 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.

Press Contact:

  

Corporate Communications

  

Harris Interactive

  

212-539-9600

  

[email protected]

  
 
 

SOURCE Harris Interactive

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