PPP Survey: Obama approval rating rises to 46%

[WI_DEM]

Two weeks ago, Barack Obama's job approval rating stood at an abysmal 41-54, mired near his all-time lowest rating in the Daily Kos/SEIU poll. Then, last week, his numbers unexpectedly jumped, and quite a bit at that—all the way to 44-50. At the time, I wondered aloud whether we might be seeing an outlier—a poll that, simply due to the vagaries of statistics, simply came back with numbers that didn't reflect reality. It seemed plausible, particularly since other pollsters weren't seeing a contemporaneous bump in their own surveys.

But while you can always speculate, you should never draw conclusions based on a single poll, especially when you get fresh data every week. If I had done so seven days ago, I'd have lost a lot of money, because I definitely would have bet that Obama's numbers would come back down this week. But not only have they not done so, they've gone up again. Indeed, in the first two weeks of October, the president's job approval has gone from -13 to -3, a jump of ten points. Such dramatic movement is generally quite rare, except in the face of major news.

Do you approve or disapprove of Barack Obama’s job performance?
Approve Disapprove Not sure
All 46 49 5
Women 48 46 6
Men 43 52 5
Democrat 78 18 4
Republican 8 89 3
Independent/Other 43 48 9
Liberal 86 8 6
Moderate 56 38 6
Conservative 14 83 4
White 37 58 5
African-American 82 16 2
Asian 75 17 8
Hispanic 59 34 6
American Indian 69 31 -
Federal Tribe 100 -
Not Federal Tribe 62 38
Other 53 34 13
Tea Party 9 91 -
Non Tea Party 56 38 5
Union household 55 40 5
Non-union household 43 52 5
18 to 29 52 38 10
30 to 45 47 49 3
46 to 65 47 49 4
Older than 65 39 55 7
Northeast 50 45 5
Midwest 43 51 6
South 45 51 4
West 45 49 6
Less than $30,000 49 46 5
$30,000 to $50,000 46 48 6
$50,000 to $75,000 47 51 2
$75,000 to $100,000 44 47 9
Over $100,000 47 48 4
Declined to Answer 36 59 4

http://dailykos.com/weeklypolling/2011/10/13

[banned from Kos]

1. interestng that "income" barely matters

as was the case in 2008.

[WI_DEM]

2. though one interesting thing about income is $100,000 + are split

on Obama--you would think the wealthier would be against him but that is not necessarily the case.

[ClarkUSA]

6. No, it isn't the case. Note the high level of support for OWS in New York City.

[ieoeja]

13. A few reasons for that.

1. Empathy. Of course.

2. I am not "independantly" wealthy. 100k+ still means I have to work for a living. I am still the 99%.

3. I can see them working their way up the food chain. My turn is coming. I am more insulated than most (house paid off next year; apt breaking even; farm inherited recently and bringing in a little money). But I will still need a job for day to day expenses at the very least.

4. The Right really, really, really, really wants to steal Social Security. And I expect to lose a lot of my 401k when the boomers retire and start withdrawing money. So I am going to need that Social Security.


They love to pretend that Social Security is nearing collapse because there will be more people taking money OUT than putting money in. Yet, they ignore what is going to happen when more people with 401k are taking money out of the market rather than putting money in. Especially given that Social Security has a huge surplus that will cover decades. There is no such thing as a 401k surplus.

Heck, even if the boomers broke even on dividends from their 401k (ha!), the market is going to tank just because they stop putting money in. A sudden drop in 401k contributions means a sudden drop in purchasing stocks which means a sudden drop in stock price which means devaluing 401k. And, of course, if they are breaking even on dividends (ha!) that means the businesses are paying out dividends instead of reinvesting.

The 401k bubble is going to make all of its predecessors look like happy days.

[uponit7771]

3. When Obama is out in front of people his ratings always go up, Bush's always went down.

[WI_DEM]

5. perhaps, but I think main reason for increase is that he is finally taking on the GOP

and has been making his jobs bill and their lack of action on jobs an issue.

[ClarkUSA]

7. There's no proof of why yet. The improving economy could also be the cause.

So could the distancing of memory from the corrosive debt battle, which led to the drop in his numbers in the first place.

[WI_DEM]

9. No doubt the debt battle deeply hurt Obama, but he has finally been taking the battle

directly to the GOP and calling them out. He has been focused and on message. That was a problem for the WH for a long time.

[ClarkUSA]

11. Pres. Obama been "taking the battle" to the GOP all along. The MSM just wasn't paying attention...

... and neither were low-information voters.

Now with the increased MSM focus on the GOP debates and candidates, they've had to up their coverage of President Obama too, especially because of his promotional jobs bill touring in the past few weeks which provides a direct counter to the Republican narrative pushed by their presidential candidates.

Furthermore, state coverage always exceeds national coverage in length, repetition and depth. This results in voters seeing and hearing what I and other Obama supporters already know about President Obama. Perhaps we're saying the same thing here?

I still think the improving economy is a big reason:

Gallup: "U.S. Unemployment Down Sharply in Early October"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x799391

[TheWraith]

12. True, but he has been amping it up lately, because governing is over.

The jobs bill signaled the end of the last chance to really govern and do anything before the campaign started. With no further likely need to snipe Republican votes, he can be a little louder and more aggressive in his language without dooming things which need to get passed.

[ClarkUSA]

4. Nate Silver considers PPP to be one of the best pollsters. This is good news for Obama supporters.

Of course, in some hateful and perpetually outraged corners of the blogosphere, there is much sadness and gnashing of teeth. :cry:

[stevenleser]

8. K&R, also waiting for Obama critics to show up and try to discredit this poll somehow...

in 3-2-1 ... :popcorn:

[ClarkUSA]

10. More like they will ignore it, hoping it will drop down into oblivion.

More the reason to keep :kick: this OP.

One actually DEMAND THAT I STOP POSTING POLLS today. :rofl:

[a kennedy]

14. I thought this was interesting.....liberal and Moderate numbers....

Liberal 86 8 6
Moderate 56 38 6

[TheWraith]

16. Yep. And yet people still insist that Obama's lost the liberals.

No, he's lost temperamental people.

[phleshdef]

15. I think its a combination of the job bill push, the Republican primary and OWS.

The President put a fairly comprehensive jobs plan out there, at least comprehensive in terms of near future. The Republicans have put NOTHING out there and they voted against his mostly popular plan.

People are watching these primary candidates and none of the front runners are selling anykind of truly populist message that can compete with President Obama's. And most of them come off as crazy or incompetent or out of touch or all possible combinations of those things. Barack Obama is still regarded as sane and as someone who cares about people. Even in polls where his disapproval is higher, the question of "Do you believe President Obama cares about people like you?" is still getting high marks.

And, whether some in the movement intend it or not, the OWS protests are helping the President. At the end of the day, Barack Obama is still regarded as a liberal by the general voting public. And liberalism in general is getting a boost from the OWS protests. People are attracted to impassioned populism and whenever something like that catches steam, the ideology behind it also tends to get a rise in public approval. On top of that, the President has spoken very positively and respectfully about the protests whereas many of the Republican candidates have called it class warfare or have insulted the protestors as a bunch of willfully unemployed drug addicts having sex in public parks.

[mikekohr]

17. Excellant! nt

[Pirate Smile]

18. Kick & Recommend

[KoKo]

19. That's a very good sign early on. He's increased his approval to 46%

shows that he is "still in the game."