OBAMA'S A NEGATIVE 11

Obama Approval Index Month-by-Month

Sunday, May 2, 2010

When tracking President Obama's job approval on a daily basis , people sometimes get so caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations that they miss the bigger picture. To look at the longer-term trends, Rasmussen Reports compiles the numbers on a full-month basis, and the results can be seen in the graphics below.

Obama's Approval Index rating was up four points in April to -11. This improvement comes after the passage of the health care reform bill at the end of March. This is the best monthly performance rating for the president since October 2009, when his rating was -10. But the president's approval rating fell to -15 by the end of 2009 and held fairly steady there until this month.

The number who Strongly Disapprove of the president's performance decreased one point to 41% in April. At the same time, the number who Strongly Approve gained three points to 30%.

That leads to a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11.

Thirty-three percent (33%) of U.S. voters say the country is heading in the right direction . This is down just two points from the nine-point jump immediately after passage of the health care bill.

(Want a free daily e-mail update ? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook .

(MORE BELOW)

Also in April, the president's total approval increased a point to 47%. Total disapproval inched up a point to 52%. These numbers have remained fairly steady through the first four months of 2010.

(MORE BELOW)

Other measures of the president's performance can be found on the Obama by the Numbers page.

Rasmussen Reports also tracks consumer and investor confidence on a daily basis. Currently, Republicans have a steady lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot.

Support for repeal of the health care bill is proving to be just as strong and as consistent as opposition to the bill before it was passed because most voters believe it will increase the cost of care, hurt quality and push the federal budget deficit even higher.

Most voters think the president's new bipartisan deficit reduction commission is more likely to recommend tax increases than spending cuts to meet the growing deficit, and 78% expect Congress to raise taxes if the commission recommends it.