President Obama's Job Rating Shows Small Improvements, but Not Congress'

NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- As we head into Thanksgiving there is something President Obama may be thankful for – slightly improving approval ratings. While still low, this month one-third of Americans (34%) give the President positive ratings for the overall job he is doing and two-thirds (66%) give him negative marks. This is just slightly up from last month's numbers of 33% positive and 67% negative, but they are the best ratings President Obama has seen since mid-summer.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100517/NY06256LOGO )

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,499 adults surveyed online between November 7 and 14, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

Not surprisingly, just 4% of Republicans and 9% of Conservatives give President Obama positive ratings. Among Independents, seven in ten (71%) give him negative ratings as do 63% of Moderates. Among the President's party, while two-thirds of Democrats (66%) give President Obama positive ratings, one-third (34%) give him negative ratings. Liberals feel the same way with 67% giving the President positive marks and 33% giving him negative ratings.

Where President Obama has less to be thankful for is what Americans think of his handling of the economy. Just over one in five U.S. adults (22%) give him positive marks for the overall job he is doing on the economy while almost four in five (78%) give him negative ratings. This is just slightly down from last month when 23% gave him positive ratings and 77% gave the President negative ratings. And majorities of all parties give President Obama negative ratings on the economy – 96% of Republicans, 85% of Independents and 54% of Democrats.

Congress and Direction of the Country

Congress, however, has less to feel thankful for this holiday season as just 5% of Americans give them positive ratings for the job they are doing while 95% give them negative ratings. This is unchanged since last month and consistent among parties; almost all Republicans (95%), Democrats (95%) and Independents (97%) give Congress negative ratings.

Also unchanged since last month is how people think things are going in the country. Just one in five Americans (20%) say things in the country are going in the right direction while four in five (80%) say things are going off on the wrong track.

President Obama's re-election chances

This year Thanksgiving marks less than one year until the presidential election. And, if the election for president were to be held today, over half of Americans (53%) would be unlikely to vote to re-elect President Obama, two in five (40%) would be likely to vote for him and 7% are not at all sure. Looking at this by party, nine in ten Republicans (93%) and over half of Independents (57%) would be unlikely to vote for him as would 18% of Democrats.

Looking at what Americans think will happen next November, one-third (32%) think President Obama will be re-elected while less than half (46%) think he will not be re-elected; one-quarter (23%) are not at all sure. Last month, half of Americans (49%) did not think he would be re-elected while three in ten (30%) thought he would be re-elected.

So What?

For the next few months the focus will be on the Republicans as they enter the first primaries and caucuses in January. During that time, as he prepares for the general election, President Obama has some time to shore up his base and make overall inroads with Independents. If he doesn't and six months before the election his job ratings are still below 40% positive, winning re-election will be an extremely difficult task.

TABLE 1
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOB RATING - TREND
"How would you rate the overall job President Barack Obama is doing?"

Base: All adults

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.  **Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 2
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOB RATING – BY PARTY & IDEOLOGY
"How would you rate the overall job President Barack Obama is doing?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 3
CONGRESS' OVERALL JOB RATING
"How would you rate the overall job Congress is doing?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 4
CONGRESS' OVERALL JOB RATING – TREND
"How would you rate the overall job Congress is doing?"

Base: All adults

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.  **Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 5
RIGHT DIRECTION OR WRONG TRACK
"Generally speaking, would you say things in the country are going in the right direction or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?"

Base: All adults

TABLE 6
VOTING FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA
"If the election for president were to be held today, how likely would you be to vote for the current president, Barack Obama?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 7
VOTING FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA – BY POLITICAL PARTY
"If the election for president were to be held today, how likely would you be to vote for the current president, Barack Obama?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 8
LIKELIHOOD OF OBAMA'S RE-ELECTION
"If you had to say now, do you think that President Obama will be re-elected, or not?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 9
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOB RATING ON THE ECONOMY - TREND
"Now, turning to something different, how would you rate the overall job that President Barack Obama is doing on the economy?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding; *In February "Not at all sure" was offered as a response choice and 4% responded in that way.

TABLE 10
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOB RATING ON THE ECONOMY – BY POLITICAL PARTY
"Now, turning to something different, how would you rate the overall job that President Barack Obama is doing on the economy?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding; * indicates less than .05%

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between November 7 and 14, 2011 among 2,499 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

J40989
Q1205, 1210, 1215, 1218, 1255, 705

The Harris Poll^® #121, November 18, 2011
By Regina A. Corso, SVP, Harris Poll, Public Relations and Youth Research, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American and European offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

Press Contact:
Corporate Communications
Harris Interactive
212-539-9600
[email protected]

SOURCE Harris Interactive