Sunday, August 21, 2011

Obama: Low Rating Reflect Unhappiness With Congress


Anthony Mason's one-on-one interview with President Obama during his 3-day bus tour of the American heartland last week.
Pres. Obama tells CBS in an interview broadcast Sunday that he's "impacted," just like Congress, when people aren't happy with Washington.

Job approval opinion polls last week showed Pres. Obama's job approval rating at or below 40 percent, the lowest of his presidency.

Pres. Obama taped the CBS' `Sunday Morning" interview last Wednesday in Illinois at the end of a Midwest bus tour focused on the economy.


There is broad public consensus that the budget negotiations of recent months can be summed up in words such as ridiculous, disgusting, stupid, and frustrating. Nationwide, 72% describe the recent negotiations in negative terms such as these; while very few offer a positive (2%), or even neutral (11%), assessment. Other frequently used terms include terrible, disappointing, childish, and joke.

A recent survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and The Washington Post found that these critical views cross partisan and ideological lines, with 75% of Republicans, 72% of Democrats and 72% of independents all volunteering similarly negative assessments. Impressions are particularly negative among Republicans and Republican-leaners who agree with the Tea Party (83% negative).

Overall, this reaction is parallel to how the public viewed the budget negotiations surrounding the possible government shutdown in early April of this year. A Pew Research/Washington Post survey conducted in the days immediately following the April 8 deal found Americans offering similarly negative reactions, and, for the most part, using the same combination of words to describe the situation.

Read the full report.

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