Obama Approval Sinks as Most Say Country Off Track

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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September 06, 2011

Obama Approval Sinks as Most Say Country Off Track

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds public pessimism about the direction of the country has jumped to its highest level in nearly three years pushing President Obama's approval rate to a new low of 43%.

"By this time in their presidencies, approval ratings for both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton -- who also suffered serious midterm setbacks during their first term -- had settled safely above the 50 percent mark. Both then stayed in positive territory throughout their reelection campaigns."

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found that 44% of Americans approve of the job the president is doing. Some 73% say the country is headed in the wrong direction, a level of pessimism not seen since late 2008, as the financial crisis struck.

A new Politico/Battleground Poll also finds the president's approval at just 45%. The survey shows 72% of voters believe the country is either strongly or somewhat headed in the wrong direction.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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September 06, 2011