New Polls: Obama Lost His Coattails

Members of Congress who think they can rely on Obama to rescue them from the consequences of their health care vote had better think twice. Obama's approval numbers have dropped to new lows across the board.

In the Gallup's Daily tracking poll, Obama's approval has dropped below 50% for the very first time. It should be noted that Gallup samples all adult Americans in its poll; it does not focus on registered voters or likely voters. Ratings for Obama based on samples of all adults are always several points higher than those based on likely voters. That's because some of the Democrats' most enthusiastic supporters, e.g., young adults, are less likely to turn out to vote.

Obama also dropped below 50% in polling by Quinnipiac University for the first time this week. In their poll of registered voters, Obama's approval is at 48%. Obama’s approval rating was 59 percent in a Quinnipiac survey conducted Feb. 25 to March 2.

Quinnipiac also found that only 47% approve of most of Obama's policies, and voters strongly disapprove of the health care overhaul passed by the House of Representatives which he has endorsed (51% to 35%). Voters also disapprove of Obama's handling of health care 53 - 41 percent.

Obama's numbers have been especially bad this week in Rasmussen's polling. In fact, today’s results match the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for Obama and it’s the third straight day at -14. Prior to these three days, Obama’s presidential ratings had fallen to -14 on only one day since taking office. (Approval Index = strong approval - strong disapproval).

Overall, 47% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Obama's performance. Fifty-two percent (52%) now disapprove.

Obama's approval rating has also hit a new low of 46% in Fox News' polling. Despite the fact that Fox's sample included a slightly higher-than-expected percentage of Republicans, results on approval of ObamaCare (40% approve, 52% disapprove) were similar to those found by Quinnipiac.

h/t: Memeorandum

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Obama's Historic Free Fall

Whether you follow Zogby, Gallup or Rasmussen, if you watch the polls, you've noticed Obama's precipitous decline. Even The New York Times has taken note:

"...in the history of polling, no newly elected American president has fallen this far this fast."

What to do?

Ed Morrissey points out the inconvenient truth:

"Getting on TV didn’t help. Staying away from TV doesn’t appear to be helping, either. Barack Obama has to wonder how exactly he will stop the bleeding..."

Here's some surprisingly sensible advice from the King of ObamaCons, David Brooks:

"...[Obama] has to align his proposals to the values of the political center: fiscal responsibility, individual choice and decentralized authority."

In other words, Obama should keep his campaign promises. Ordinarily, that would be very sound advice. But the problem with that strategy is that Obama has made too many contradictory promises. During his campaign, Obama created a loony fantasy — one in which government grows, spending is kept under control, taxes don't go up, and the economy improves.

Insanity.

Obviously this was a message that succeeded not on the basis of its substance, but through the force of Obama's media-driven charisma. As the The Wall Street Journal put it, "The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long."

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