President Obama’s job approval rating has gained six points since July and 11 points over the past year.
According to the new ABC News/Washington Post poll:
More than half of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll approve of Barack Obama’s job performance, a first in nearly two and a half years. That compares with 71 percent disapproval of the Republicans in Congress, with six in 10 calling their struggle to select a new House speaker a sign of dysfunction within the GOP caucus.
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Likely boosted by improving economic sentiment, Obama’s job approval rating has gained six percentage points since July to 51 percent, a level he hasn’t seen since May 2013. That’s up 11 points from his career low a year ago. Forty-five percent disapprove, down 5 points since midsummer and 10 points from its peak in late 2013.
So much for the mainstream media narrative that Democrats might be in trouble in 2016 because of Obama’s approval rating. The other big takeaway from this poll is that the catastrophic dysfunction among House Republicans is not going unnoticed by the American people.
Republicans have finally pushed it so far that a majority of the country has noticed that they are completely dysfunctional. President Obama’s disapproval rating is 26 points lower than that of Republicans in Congress.
Almost as (49%) strongly disapprove of the job that Republicans are doing in Congress as approve of the job that Obama is doing as president. Congressional Republicans are just disliked they are becoming reviled for their inability to govern. All of these numbers suggest that it would be wise for Republicans to agree to raise the debt limit and fund the government.
Since the GOP is being run by a small cabal of conservative extremists, neither of these common sense steps are going to happen without a fight.
President Obama remains the biggest asset that Democrats have. If the Democratic nominee wins the White House in 2016, it will be because Obama voters led the charge.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
