Obama Drops Below 50% in Gallup
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Sub-50% - Ben Smith: Sub-50%
November 20, 2009
Categories:
Sub-50%
President Obama's job approval numbers will dip
below 50% for the first time today in Gallup's daily tracking poll, according to a Gallup official.
"Gallup Daily tracking results just in. Obama will be below 50% for the first time when we update our numbers at 1:00 p.m.," wrote Gallup.com managing news editor Lymari Morales on Twitter.
His approval numbers have bounced down to the 50% mark several times, driven by weaker support from independents and Republicans, but hadn't crossed it.
The slide is worrying for the White House, but it's probably not yet panic time. Ronald Reagan's approval numbers dropped well below 40% during the depths of his first term recession. If Obama's bad stretch puts him in the high forties or low fifties, that's not a crippling political problem. If he languishes there or drops further, it may become one.
UPDATE: The Gallup data is now online. Gallup notes that Obama fell below 50% at almost the exact same mark in his presidency that Reagan did, and attributes the drop -- most of which took place over the summer -- to the economy and to the health care debate.
