Gallup: Obama approval hits new lows on economy, health care, deficit

His economic polling will rebound over time but I’m not so sure about the other two.

In an interview with CBS News on Feb. 7, prior to the Super Bowl, the president made a surprise call for a half-day, bipartisan, nationally televised summit on healthcare. The political need for Obama to make such a bold move is underscored by his relatively low 36% approval rating on his handling of healthcare. Obama’s healthcare approval rating is statistically little different from the 37% he received last month, but the two ratings are the lowest of his administration.

Americans give Obama his lowest rating, 32%, on handling the federal budget deficit, down from 38% when this was last measured in September. His ratings on the deficit have trailed his overall approval rating each time they have been measured. In late March, for example, Obama received 49% approval on handling the deficit while at the same time his overall approval rating was above 60%.

His approval rating on the economy: A robust 36 percent, down 23 points since the stimulus was passed last year.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen finds that fully 75 percent of likely voters are angry about the federal government’s policies. Say, I wonder if the two polls might be connected.

Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Republicans are angry with the government’s current policies, which is perhaps not surprising with the White House and Congress both in Democratic hands. But 78% of voters not affiliated with either major party agree.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of Democrats share that anger, but Republicans are three times as likely as Democrats to be Very Angry.

The divide between the Political Class and Mainstream voters, however, is remarkable. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Mainstream voters are angry, but 84% of the Political Class are not. Those numbers include 57% of Mainstream voters who are Very Angry and 51% of the Political Class who are not angry at all.

The 75 percent number is up four points since November and nine points since September, but Rasmussen doesn’t offer partisan breakdowns in the article so I can’t tell which side of the aisle is driving it. Presumably it’s mostly Democrats who are pissed off about the breakdown over ObamaCare. Or is it? The Des Moines Register polled Iowans today and found that “tea party supporters” include a surprising number of Dems — 17 percent, compared to 49 percent independents and 34 percent Republicans. Could be that the erosion among independents due to The One’s fiscal policies has crept leftward and is now starting to eat away at centrist Democrats. Exit question: You don’t suppose this has anything to do with it too, do you?

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