Obama's abysmal new poll numbers: Is his presidency 'over'?


With a handful of foreign crises abroad and a stagnant domestic agenda marred by mini-scandals back home, President Obama's approval rating has fallen to a record low of 41 percent, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Obama previously tanked to 41 percent back in March, so the dip is a return to the lowest level ever marked in the survey.
Obama received equally dismal marks on every issue, as well. His net -20 percent approval rating on foreign policy is his lowest ever; only 11 percent say he's "very competent" — a lower mark than the 14 percent George W. Bush recorded, post-Katrina, at the same point in his presidency; and 54 percent say Obama "cannot lead and get the job done."
Obama's marks are so bad, NBC political analyst Chuck Todd said, that it's "as if the public is saying, 'Hey, buddy, your presidency is over.'"
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With more than two years to go in Obama's second term, that reading seems a bit premature. Obama has bottomed out before only to rebound, so it's not impossible for him to do so again. For now though, Americans' overwhelming sentiment is clear: Obama stinks at his job.
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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
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