CBS poll has Obama approval at new low of 44%

How’s that Hopey-Changey working out for you?  Two weeks after finally getting his ObamaCare agenda item signed into law, Barack Obama has reaped the reward of pushing a deeply unpopular bill through Congress.  A new CBS poll shows Obama dropping to his lowest approval rating in their survey yet, down to 44% (via JWF):

Last week, President Obama signed historic health care reform legislation into law — but his legislative success doesn’t seem to have helped his image with the American public.

The latest CBS News Poll, conducted between March 29 and April 1, found Americans unhappier than ever with Mr. Obama’s handling of health care – and still worried about the state of the economy.

President Obama’s overall job approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 44 percent, down five points from late March, just before the health bill’s passage in the House of Representatives. It’s down 24 points since his all-time high last April. Forty-one percent of those polled said they disapproved of the president’s performance.

CBS hasn’t released the raw data yet on the poll.  They want to wait until tonight’s news broadcast to unveil some of the other results from the poll.  That can’t be good news for the White House, since the big hit on the approval rating will very obviously be their lead on the story.  We do know, however, that this poll surveyed the general adult population, not registered or likely voters, a sample that should have been more sympathetic to Obama.

Two issue approval ratings did get released this morning, and both show even worse approval ratings for Obama on key issues.  He hit a new low on health care, with only 34% approving of his job performance.  Small wonder Obama has taken to campaigning again for health care; he’s getting buried by it.  Obama might do better to change the subject, but the next most pressing issue is another which Americans don’t like the job he’s doing.  He only gets 42% approval on the economy, sinking closer to his all-time low of 41% in January.

A drop of five points since the bill passed should show Republicans that the best way to win the next two elections is to promise to repeal ObamaCare.  For Obama, the best strategy might be to quit talking about it and start looking for ways to really rebuild the economy rather than indulge himself in progressive agenda wish lists for government programs, which have done nothing so far except delay the recovery.

Blowback