Poll: Obama approval at highest point since 2012 reelection
President Obama’s approval rating is at its highest point since he was reelected in 2012, according to a new poll released Monday morning.
Fifty percent of those surveyed approve of Mr. Obama, according to the new Quinnipiac Poll, compared with 43 percent who disapprove. This is Mr. Obama’s highest approval rating since shortly after being reelected: a December 2012 Quinnipiac poll found him with 53 percent approval.
Voters are split on whether Mr. Obama has been a good president, though slightly more say he has been a “great” president (22 percent) or “good” president (33 percent) than those who say he has been a “not so good” president (23 percent) or a “bad” president (22 percent).
Though almost half of voters say Mr. Obama’s policies have helped the nation’s economy -- 44 percent, compared with 38 percent who say they’ve hurt the economy -- just one-fifth of those surveyed said Mr. Obama’s policies have helped them personally. By contrast, 33 percent say his policies have hurt them personally, while 44 percent say they’ve made no difference in their lives.
And few voters say the country is on the right track: just 27 percent said they are “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the way things are going in the country today, compared with 72 percent who say they are “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied.”
Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are underwater when it comes to their favorability ratings, but for the first time in two years the GOP gets higher marks: 38 percent hold a favorable view of the Republicans, while 50 percent have an unfavorable view. For Democrats, it’s 35 percent favorable, 56 percent unfavorable.
Quinnipiac surveyed 1,071 voters nationwide from Nov. 17-20. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.