By Susan Duclos
Confirming what other polling organizations have found, Barack Obama's approval rating has plummeted since the November 2012 elections, and has since fallen further amidst the sequestration battle, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Less than two months into his second term, President Barack Obama's approval rating has dropped and Americans blame him and his fellow Democrats almost as much as his Republican opponents for a fiscal mess.
A Reuters/Ipsos online poll released on Wednesday showed 43 percent of people approve of Obama's handling of his job, down 7 percentage points from February 19.
Obama's approval ratings had ranged from 50 to 55 percent after his reelection, some of which is considered to be the election "bounce" which lasted until February, but recent polling by Reason/Rupe, Fox and now Reuters, all show the bounce is gone and Obama's numbers are falling fast.
The Reuters poll also shows Americans are paying attention to the budget discussions going on in Washington:
While the budget battle are complex, the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed many Americans are paying attention. The poll found 35 percent of those surveyed are paying a little bit of attention to the fight, 27 percent a fair amount and 9 percent a great deal. More than a quarter, 28 percent, knew nothing at all about it.
Those numbers are not surprising when you look at priority polling from a variety of organizations which show that Americans top concern, their priorities the economy, jobs, budget deficit and national debt, in every poll to date.
That focus on economic priorities is caused by gas prices once again on the rise and expected to continue to rise, unemployment at 7.9 percent, higher still than the day Obama took office in January 2009, U6, total unemployment at 15.4 percent unadjusted, 14.4 adjusted, the GDP growth increased at a dismal annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, and the national debt having reached $16 trillion, six of which accrued in the last four years under Obama.
The Reuters' article also shows a severe disconnect between Obama's stated priorities and Americans' priorities.
Obama shot out of the gate in January at the start of his second four years in the White House, promising gun control and immigration legislation as well as efforts to tackle climate change and expand gay rights.
0bama's issues aren't what Americans want to see addressed but his ideological and political agenda is blinding him to the correlation of his speeches focusing on his issues while ignoring the issues that are concerning Americans, and his plummeting poll numbers.
