Gallup: President Obama’s Approval Hits a 52-Week Low

Maybe it’s not
just Obamacare.
Maybe NSA spying
revelations,
rough treatment of critical journalists, a
lack of transparency, and other presidential foibles have also
played a role. However it breaks down, though, Gallup reports that
President Barack Obama’s
approval rating now stands at 39 percent, which is the lowest
it’s been in the past year. It’s also only one point higher than
his all-time low, which he hit October 14-16, 2011. That’s a bit of
a tumble from the early hopey-dreamy period, when he scored 69
percent in January 2009. Oh, how jaded we’ve all become. Our once
shiny, new president has lost our favor. Well…Maybe he actually
pushed the favor away.

Interestingly, Gallup has a tool that allows you to compare
approval ratings over time among presidents. It seems that
Americans have become a bit tougher on national chief executives
than was once the case. Of course, we’re probably a bit less naive,
and more knowledgeable of their flaws than we used to be, too. How
does the current guy stack up? Well, Obama may rank generally lower
than his predecessor (and let’s concede that 9/11 gave George W.
Bush an early advantage, public-perception-wise) though it’s
practically a dead heat this far into their administrations, but he
at least pulls greater support at this point relative
to…(drumroll, please)…Richard M. Nixon.

So…He has that going for him.

Of course, approval rating or no, we’re stuck with the guy.