Obama’s Soaring Approval Rating Powers Democratic Optimism For 2016

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President Obama’s job approval rating now sits at 52%. As the President gets more popular by the day, optimism is growing among Democrats for a big 2016 election victory.

Here is Gallup’s Daily Obama job approval rating:

Notice a pattern? President Obama’s job approval has been a net positive for two weeks.

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Donald Trump’s approval ratings have nosedived since last year. According to Gallup, “Since last year, Trump’s net favorable rating (% favorable minus % unfavorable) among all adults nationally has worsened, to -35 in March from -17 in August.” Trump has a 70% unfavorable rating with women. According to the Harvard IOP Spring 2016 Survey, Trump has a (-57) net favorability with 18-29 year olds. In contrast, President Obama has a 55% approval rating with millennials and an overall net approval rating of (+13).

The nation’s two political parties are heading in opposite directions. President Obama is trending upwards and gaining support from demographic groups that will be important to a Democratic victory in November while Republicans have embraced a likely nominee who repels key voting blocs by the millions.

Republicans are making the argument that the nation needs change, but that change argument is a tough sell when the outgoing president is popular. Obama’s approval ratings suggest that voters don’t want to change back to Republican policies. Of all of the statistics that could inspire Democratic optimism for November, the most significant could be the ongoing rise in popularity of President Obama.

Jason Easley

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