Obama’s Sinking Approval Rating

Yesterday I posted that Rasmussen’s Daily Presidential Tracking Poll found the number of Americans who ‘Strongly Approve’ of Obama’s job performance fell to a new low.  The polling company’s Presidential Approval Index is calculated as the difference between the percentage of Americans who ‘Strongly Approve’ and those who ‘Strongly Disapprove.’  Monday was the first time since Obama took office the index was negative.  Though the ‘Strongly Approve’ number came up one percent today, the index is still negative with 33% strongly approving and 34% strongly disapproving of the President’s performance.  This makes it obvious yesterday’s results weren’t a fluke, now that we see the index in negative territory for two days in a row.

Early in the month, the index reached zero for the first time, but quickly rebounded following Obama’s Cairo speech to the Muslim world.  His rhetoric and promises weren’t enough to hold the numbers for long though as North Korea became evermore belligerent, firing missiles, refusing to honor UN sanctions, and even threatening war against the US.  The Islamic Republic of Iran also took its toll on the President’s ratings following the landslide victory for anti-American President Ahmadinejad in an election his opponents insist was rigged by the council of clerics who really run the terrorist sponsoring nation.  Days of protests by supporters of Ahmadinejad’s opponent, Moustavi, turned violent Saturday after Iran’s Supreme ruler, Ayatollah Khamenei, warned protesters of a crackdown that would result in bloodshed.

Freedom-seeking protesters defied the Ayatollah and the bloodshed began while Obama remained silent, refusing to offer even moral support for the oppressed citizens of the Muslim theocracy.  When he finally did speak out on behalf of the demonstrators, he refused to do so on camera–incredulously clinging to his campaign calls for dialogue with the Iranian rulers who’ve long referred to the US as ‘The Great Satan’–and instead released a three-paragraph statement to the press.  This from a President who’s not shy about asking to stand in front of the lens whenever he seeks to read from a teleprompter to promote his latest attempt to convert our economy to a Socialist system.

It probably didn’t help the President when he decided to slip away and enjoy an ice cream cone while the Iranian supporters of Mousavi, who sought to lower tensions between the US and Iran, died in the streets.   The graphic images broadcast via cell phone on Twitter and YouTube allowed the world to see young men and women murdered, beaten, and dragged from their homes while the American President appeared unconcerned, going about as if the travesty wasn’t even occurring.

Even his domestic policies are now contributing to the decline in the number of Americans who support his Socialist policies.  The President’s health care plan, once expected to pass Congress with relative ease, has suffered possibly mortal wounds in recent days.  Critics are landing blows that must be resonating since even the President’s own party are backing away.  Of course it didn’t help either when last week the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released its report that found Obama’s plan would only insure about 1/3 of the nation’s uninsured at a whopping cost of $1 trillion.

Add to that the President is now considering new taxes that he campaigned against to help pay for his expensive plan.  Recall that Obama lambasted McCain for supposedly considering a tax on employer paid health insurance premiums during the campaign, but now the President is considering doing just that to pay the astronomical costs associated with his plan to seize control over another 17.7% of the US economy.  He’s set an August deadline for Congress to pass his plan and have it ready for his signature because he knows it won’t pass public scrutiny if allowed to be thoroughly and publicly debated.

Today’s Rasmussen poll is just the latest in a string that are showing a downward trend that may indicate the public is losing patience with the President’s radical reforms.  We recently saw that more Americans call themselves Conservatives than any other ideological political group and that 80% disagree with Obama’s Socialization of the US auto industry.  A majority now say the President has abandoned bipartisanship, though he’s repeatedly called for it from Republicans and campaigned on the idea that he would bring people together.

It’s apparent the President is watching these polls and taking notice, since he’s recently made statements that contradict his actions but pander to dissatisfied Americans.  Obama is so narcissistic, he’s obviously convinced the American people believe him when he claims to support a pay-as-you-go (Paygo) budget so full of loopholes it will allow him and the Democratic Congress to continue their historic deficit spending while claiming to be fiscally responsible.  He expects us to believe he doesn’t want to run private companiies even while he seizes control of them.  But voters can’t be fooled forever.

Obama has enjoyed quite a honeymoon with American voters but, as the recent polls indicate, that may just be coming to an end.  Though he continues to blame most of his problems on Bush, people are realizing it’s Obama’s show now–for better, or worse.