Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:47 pm
As President Barack Obama prepares to bid the nation farewell on Tuesday night, his popularity continues to soar, according to the latest poll from Rasmussen Reports – a polling firm generally favorable to Republicans.
According to the survey, 60 percent of Americans approve of the job the outgoing president has done, while 39 percent disapprove.
Obama Job Approval – Approve 60%, Disapprove 39% (Rasmussen Reports 1/5-1/9) https://t.co/6oIyqa87m4 pic.twitter.com/mWM6HY7gH9
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— HuffPost Pollster (@pollsterpolls) January 10, 2017
The poll also found that those who “strongly approve” of Obama outweigh those who “strongly disapprove”, by a 37 to 29 margin.
“The overall approval number and the daily index rating are highs for Obama since March 2009, just weeks after he first took office,” Rasmussen noted.
Two other polls released from Quinnipiac and Gallup Tuesday show similar numbers for the president, pegging his approval rating at 55 percent and 56 percent, respectively.
There is a clear difference between the way Americans look at the current president and the incoming president, and it doesn’t bode well for Trump.
Job approval for POTUS/PEOTUS:
OBAMA
Approve 55
Disapprove 39
NET +16TRUMP
Approve 37
Disapprove 51
NET -14—@QuinnipiacPoll pic.twitter.com/tEcSw55H13
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 10, 2017
Not only do the American people look at President Obama much more positively than President-elect Trump, who has historically low ratings for an incoming president, but Obama also outperforms the previous two-term president by a mile.
As George W. Bush prepared to leave office in 2009, his dismal approval rating stood at 22 percent.
When President Obama addresses the nation on Tuesday night, he will be speaking to a grateful nation that is satisfied with the job he’s done and likely to miss him when he’s gone.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.