Obama's Ohio approval at 52%
Posted: Friday, October 30, 2009 10:15 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
2010, Barack Obama
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
President Obama's approval rating in Ohio now stands at 52%, which mirrors his national approval rating, according to the University of Cincinnati's Ohio poll. (The last two NBC/WSJ polls had the president's approval at 51%.) His rating in Ohio is a drop from April, the last time it was measured by this pollster. Then, it stood at 63%.
His numbers on the economy are now upside down. Only 45% approve of his handling of the economy, while 53% disapprove.
He gets slightly better ratings on foreign policy. Now, 50% approve of his handling of foreign policy, while 40% disapprove; 51% approve of his handling of Iraq, 40% disapprove; even less approve of his handling of Afghanistan -- 47%, 42% disapprove. That is a major shift from April when 69% approved of his handling of Afghanistan and just 23% disapproved. But the issue was not as much in focus then, has since become political and the casualties have worsened.
And this piece of the analysis isn't promising for Obama: "Democrats continue to stand solidly behind President Obama, while Republicans are solidly against. Independents are now more likely to give the president negative, as opposed to positive, ratings."
Also, Gov. Ted Strickland (D), up for re-election next year, and locked in a tight race with John Kasich (R), is now at less than 50% for the first time in the poll. Just 48% now approve of his job, while 37% disapprove. And it's worse on his handling of the economy, which is also for the first time a net-negative -- 41%/49%.
The one glimmer of hope for Democrats is that if the economy gets better, that portends well, and more Ohioans than in previous polls are optimistic (33%) that it will get better. But a majority (54%) are still pessimistic that it will get worse.
