Obama's Job Approval Still Positive, But Settles A Bit

March 20, 2009 12:49 PM | | Comments (0)

President Obama's job performance continues to meet with approval from most Americans, according to a poll released Friday by American Research Group (ARG). But his numbers settled a bit from previous very high levels as Obama addressed a multiplicity of problems related to the nation's economic downturn.

The survey of 1,100 adults nationally showed 56 percent approved of Obama's job performance while 37 percent disapproved and 7 percent were undecided.

While that put Obama's net approval rating at plus-19, that was a slip from plus-27 -- 60 percent to 33 percent -- in a February ARG poll.

The more recent ARG survey, taken March 16-19, coincided with a rough patch for Obama. His administration faced angry questions from many quarters about the origin of an obscure provision in the economic stimulus package enacted in February, which left the door open for financially crippled insurance industry giant AIG, the recipient of billions of dollars in federal bailout money, to pay millions of dollars of bonuses to its executives.

A major reason for the slippage is that Obama just broke even among March respondents who are not affiliated with either major party. Independents' assessment of Obama's job performance was 47 percent positive to 46 percent negative, down from 53-39 in the February ARG poll.

One curious aspect of the poll is that the public's opinion of Obama's handling of the economy has declined, even as opinion on the state of the economy has become less dire.

Among respondents to the March poll, 49 percent said they approved of Obama's handling of the economy while 44 percent disapproved. This was down from 55 percent approval and 39 percent disapproval in February.

At the same time, 20 percent said the economy was getting better (compared to 4 percent who said that in February), 37 percent said it was staying the same (28 percent a month earlier), and 40 percent said it was getting worse (down from a whopping 63 percent in the February poll).

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Categories: American Research Group, Economy, Polling

Tags: Stimulus

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