Stalled Economy Sinks Obama's Approval

From Politico ~ The debt-limit showdown and the stalled economy have tarnished President Barack Obama’s standing with voters and dampened their optimism about America’s future, with nearly three out of four voters now saying the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to a new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll.

The dim public outlook is a blunt reminder of why the White House has so much riding on the president’s high-stakes economic speech Thursday and the success of his latest push for a jobs package.

Capturing a rapid erosion of confidence through the summer months, the poll found 72 percent of voters believe the country is either strongly or somewhat headed in the wrong direction, a jump of 12 percentage points since May. Only 20 percent of voters say the country is going in the right direction, a 12-point drop in the same period.

The sudden shift in attitudes reflects the deepening sense in Washington that Obama is increasingly vulnerable as the Republican presidential primary campaign ramps up this month with three debates in the next three weeks.

More Americans disapprove of the way Obama is handling his job, 50 percent, than approve, 45 percent — a drop of seven percentage points since May.

Obama receives particularly low marks for his economic stewardship, with only 39 percent saying they approve and 59 percent saying they disapprove.

And yet, in a seeming contradiction, voters still really like Obama. Putting aside how they feel about his job performance, 74 percent of voters said they either strongly or somewhat approve of Obama as a person, his highest rating in the past year.

His solid personal popularity remains a source of pride — and hope — for top advisers who spent 2008 trying to get voters to identify with Obama, an African-American with roots in Hawaii, Indonesia and Chicago.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/62667.html#ixzz1XAamMRPJ.

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