Three-Quarters of Americans Give President Obama Negative Ratings on His Handling of Jobs

NEW YORK, June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- President Obama has seen his overall job rating drop this month as well as his rating on how he is handling the economy. And, when looking at some other specific issues, the downward trend continues. In February of this year, just three in ten Americans (29%) gave President Obama positive ratings on his handling of jobs. Now one-quarter do (24%) while almost half (46%) give the President a rating of poor, The Harris Poll's lowest rating.

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These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,163 adults surveyed online between June 13 and 20, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

Three in five Americans give the President negative ratings on his handling of education (61%) and healthcare (63%) while just 34% give him positive ratings on both areas. In February, just under two in five U.S. adults gave the President positive marks on education (39%) and healthcare (37%). On the environment, over half (56%) give President Obama negative ratings while 37% give him positive ratings and on his handling of the unrest in the Middle East, 57% give him negative marks and 38% give him positive ratings. In February, two in five Americans gave the President positive ratings on his handling of both the unrest in the Middle East (39%) and the environment (41%).

Partisan support

Among Republicans, the President's best numbers are on his handling of the environment where 13% give him positive ratings. For Democrats, three in five or more give him positive ratings on his handling of the unrest in the Middle East (65%), the environment (63%), healthcare (63%), and education (60%). But only two in five Democrats (42%) give the President positive ratings on how he is handling the issue of jobs.

Independents, who typically decide elections, are not happy with the President's handling of these issues. Only one-third (34%) give him positive ratings on how he has handled the unrest in the Middle East while three in ten give him positive ratings in his handling of the environment (31%), healthcare (31%) and education (30%). The lowest rating is on his handling of jobs where just 19% of Independents give President Obama positive marks.

So What?

Foreign policy wins are nice for a president as are winning on big domestic issues such as healthcare or the environment. But these are not things Americans typically vote on come Election Day. Come November, what people tend to think about is how they feel, compared to the same time 4 years previously. As Ronald Reagan once asked, "Are you better than you were four years ago?" President Obama has a little over a year before the answer to that question really matters but if it were asked now, based on how they see his handling of a key issue such as jobs, Americans may say no and vote accordingly.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between June 13 to 20, 2011 among 2,163 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.

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The Harris Poll® #79, June 29, 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, European, and Asian 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.

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SOURCE Harris Interactive