Obama Draws Lowest Approval Ratings Since 2011

President Barack Obama's job-approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since 2011, reflecting the public's disapproval of his clashes with Congress on spending and a growing opposition to Obamacare, two new polls have found.

According to the Bloomberg National Poll of 1,000 adults conducted Sept. 20-23, the president has a 45 percent job-approval rating, while a Gallup survey of 11,259 adults taken Sept. 1-22 gives him 44 percent.

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The Gallup survey showed that the president is rapidly losing support within his own party.

While 78 percent of Democrats still give him a positive job-approval rating, he's lost 13 points from a high of 91 percent in the month after his re-election.

"Loss of support from a president's core supporters is an ominous sign, as they are typically the last group to abandon the president when things go sour," Gallup said in a statement.

"Obama still enjoys the support of the vast majority of Democrats, 78 percent, but that is down 13 points from the end of last year and is 6 points below his average 84 percent approval rating from Democrats throughout his presidency."

While the two polls may have been bad news for the president, they were even worse for Republicans.

Respondents to the Bloomberg survey, for example, blamed both Obama and congressional Republicans for the partisan mess in Washington over spending and the debt limit. But they still give the president a better favorability rating at 47 percent to Republicans' 34 percent.

Results for both parties are the worst since the Bloomberg National Poll started in 2009.
The Bloomberg survey also found that Democrats' approval rating at 44 percent was a two-year low.

J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., which conducted the Bloomberg survey, said results show that the president is entering the budget fight with a "slippery advantage" in popularity over Republicans.

"Obama has been damaged, but the Republicans haven't crawled out of their own hole," she said.

Related Links:

• Obama's Approval Ratings Near All-Time Lows
• Polls: Obama Approval Plunges in Liberal California, Nationally
• NBC Poll: More Americans Oppose Obamacare, See Rising Costs