By Colin Campbell
AP
President Barack Obama is the worst president since World War II, according
to a plurality of voters in a new poll published Wednesday.
The
"Over the span of 69 years of
American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with
President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel," Tim
Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a
statement.
Richard Nixon, whose presidency ended
in scandal, received only 13% of the vote and Jimmy Carter scored 8%. None of
the remaining eight presidents received more than 3%.
Asked about the 2012 presidential race, 45% of respondents said the country would be better off if the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, had won. Slightly less — 38% — said the country would be worse off under a President Romney.
"Would Mitt have been a better
fit?" Malloy asked. "More voters in hindsight say yes."
[MORE SPIN ON POLL!]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two years into President Barack Obama's
second term, more voters say they are dissatisfied with his administration's
handling of everything from the economy to foreign policy, giving him the worst
marks of any modern U.S.
president, a poll on Wednesday said.
In a survey of 1,446 registered voters, 33 percent said Obama was the worst president since World War Two, while 28 percent pointed to his predecessor, George W. Bush, as the worst, the poll byQuinnipiac University
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill Trott)
[EVEN MORE MEDIA SPIN]
Obama's Terrible Approval Numbers Are Terrible
When asked a question often discussed with dread at family Thanksgiving dinners, a plurality of voters — 33 percent — believe President Obama (or "Nobummer," amirite?) is the worst president since World War II. In second place on the same question was George W. Bush with 28 percent. These are the numbers you will read in several headlines today. The thing is, the "worst president since World War Two" results aren't really the worst numbers for the president in the Quinnipiac poll from which they're drawn.
Let's address the headlines
first. In the Quinnipiac poll, Obama finds himself among a handful of post-war
presidents who garner polarizing reactions from voters. Those presidents,
roughly, are Kennedy, Reagan, and the three most recent: Obama, Clinton, and
George W. Bush. When asked to choose the best post-war president, for
instance, Ronald Reagan snagged 35 percent of voters. But 18 percent
thought it was Kennedy. Clinton
took 18 percent of voters, and 8 percent think it's Obama, putting him in
fourth place. (George W. Bush, for what it's worth, had just 1 percent of
voters on this question).
If you look at the political breakdown by party of who is saying Obama is the worst, it falls strongly along party lines, with a little bit of help from independents: 63 percent of Republicans chose Obama, while 54 percent of Democrats said George W. Bush. Independents voted "for" both: 23 percent said George W. Bush was the worst, while 36 percent chose Obama. On a similar question directly comparing Bush and Obama, the expected partisan divide is even stronger:
Although the poll marked a slight uptick in his overall approval rating to 40 percent, the president didn't fare too well when respondents were asked to rate his performance on a bunch of crucial issues:
[MORE SPIN ON POLL!]
U.S.
poll: more voters see Obama as worst president in modern times
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two years into President Barack Obama's
second term, more voters say they are dissatisfied with his administration's
handling of everything from the economy to foreign policy, giving him the worst
marks of any modern In a survey of 1,446 registered voters, 33 percent said Obama was the worst president since World War Two, while 28 percent pointed to his predecessor, George W. Bush, as the worst, the poll by
Voters were split over which of the two
most recent presidents has done a better job with 39 percent saying Obama has
been a better president than Bush and, 40 percent saying Obama is worse.
Most voters said Ronald Reagan, who
served two terms in the 1980s, was the best president since 1945, the survey
showed.
"Over the span of 69 years of
American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds
himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the
popularity barrel," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of Quinnipiac University
While Obama's job approval rating has
inched higher to 40 percent, up from 38 percent in December, more voters gave
him largely negative marks in key areas: the economy, foreign policy,
healthcare and terrorism, according to the poll.
On the environment, 50 percent gave
Obama positive marks.
The telephone survey, taken June 24 to
June 30, had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill Trott)
[EVEN MORE MEDIA SPIN]
Obama's Terrible Approval Numbers Are Terrible
By Abby Ohlheiser
14 hours ago
When asked a question often discussed with dread at family Thanksgiving dinners, a plurality of voters — 33 percent — believe President Obama (or "Nobummer," amirite?) is the worst president since World War II. In second place on the same question was George W. Bush with 28 percent. These are the numbers you will read in several headlines today. The thing is, the "worst president since World War Two" results aren't really the worst numbers for the president in the Quinnipiac poll from which they're drawn.
- Obama is the worst president in 70 years, says America The Week (RSS)
- Obama Worst President Since World War II: Poll The Fiscal Times
- U.S. poll: more voters see Obama as worst president in
modern times Reuters
- Obama's abysmal new poll numbers: Is his presidency 'over'?
The Week (RSS)
- Devastating New Poll Shows Americans Believe Obama Can No
Longer Lead the Country The Fiscal Times
If you look at the political breakdown by party of who is saying Obama is the worst, it falls strongly along party lines, with a little bit of help from independents: 63 percent of Republicans chose Obama, while 54 percent of Democrats said George W. Bush. Independents voted "for" both: 23 percent said George W. Bush was the worst, while 36 percent chose Obama. On a similar question directly comparing Bush and Obama, the expected partisan divide is even stronger:
Obama has been a better president than
George W. Bush, 39 percent of voters say, while 40 percent say he is worse. Men
say 43 - 36 percent that Obama is worse than Bush while women say 42 - 38
percent he is better. Obama is worse, Republicans say 79 - 7 percent and
independent voters say 41 - 31 percent. Democrats say 78 - 4 percent that he is
better.
So the core group of voters strongly
opposed to everything Obama does think he's a bad president, and the people who
voted for him have a more positive opinion of the job he's doing. That's not a
surprise.
Obama's Terrible Approval Numbers Are Terrible
Which brings us to the number that's
arguably the actual worst thing in the poll for Obama: "American voters say 54 - 44 percent that
the Obama Administration is not competent running the government." Politico's Mike Allen agreed, flagging that number as of
most concern to the White House this morning. This is the second recent poll to
give the president or his administration a bad rating on a
"competency" question: an earlier NBC/WSJ poll found that just half of Americans believe
Obama is a competent leader of the federal government.
Although the poll marked a slight uptick in his overall approval rating to 40 percent, the president didn't fare too well when respondents were asked to rate his performance on a bunch of crucial issues:
- Voters were 40 - 55 percent against
his handling of the economy;
- They also were negative on his
foreign policy, 37 - 57 percent. And on the related issue of terrorism? 44
- 51 percent.
- Same goes for healthcare: 40 - 58
percent against.
- He did better on the environment,
with 50 percent of voters approving and 40 percent against.
Then again, basically no one else in government right now
is doing so well in the polls, either.
This article was originally published
at http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/07/obamas-terrible-approval-numbers-are-terrible/373832/
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