(CNN) – President Barack Obama's overall approval rating has dropped below 50 percent as a growing number of Americans worry that the U.S. is likely to slip into another Great Depression within the next 12 months, according to a new national poll.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday also indicate that the economy overall remains issue number one to voters, with other economic issues - unemployment, gas prices and the federal deficit - taking three of the remaining four spots in the top five.
Read the full results (pdf).
Forty-eight percent of people questioned say they approve of how the president is handling his duties in the White House, down six points from late May. An equal 48 percent say they disapprove of how Obama's performing, up three points from late last month.
The poll indicates a slight deterioration among Democrats and independent voters, with the president's approval rating among Democrats down three points to 82 percent and down five points among independents to 42 percent.
"But far and away his biggest drop has come among Republicans. In May, over a quarter approved of President Obama's handling of his job, but that is down to 14 percent now, a clear indication that any advantage he gained from taking out Osama bin Laden has faded with time," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
According to the survey Obama's strength remains his personal appeal: Three-quarters of all Americans say they approve of him personally, including a plurality of Republicans. But positive views of the president's personality may be trumped by economic jitters.
"Obama's approval among Republicans spiked after bin Laden's death, and no one expected it to stay that high for another 18 months. But the White House is probably worried more about the much smaller drops among independents and even Democrats. Those shifts are likely due to concerns about the economy, particularly unemployment," adds Holland.
Forty-eight percent say that another Great Depression is likely to occur in the next year - the highest that figure has ever reached. The survey also indicates that just under half live in a household where someone has lost a job or are worried that unemployment may hit them in the near future. The poll was conducted starting Friday, when the Labor Department reported that the nation's jobless rate edged up to 9.1 percent.
"The poll reminded respondents that during the Depression in the 1930s, roughly one in four workers were unemployed, banks failed, and millions of Americans were homeless or unable to feed their families," says Holland. "And even with that reminder, nearly half said that another depression was likely in the next 12 months. That's not just economic pessimism - that's economic fatalism."
According to the survey, more than eight in ten Americans say that the economy is in poor shape, a number that has stubbornly remained at that level since March.
Not surprisingly, with that much economic angst, the economy is the number one issue, the only one that more than half of the public says will be extremely important to their vote for president next year. Nearly all issues that at least four in ten say will be extremely important to their vote are domestic issues. Terrorism also makes that list, but Afghanistan is fairly low and Libya is tied for dead last out of the 15 issues tested. Abortion and gay marriage also rank very low, indicating that 2012 may be an election that is shaped more by bread-and-butter issues than social and moral concerns.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted June 3-7, with 1,015 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.
– CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
From CNN Politics
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What? In what planet these people are living on? The economy create jobs slowly. So what is the great depression threat people are talking about. These republicans are spreading fears and misinformation around. Wake up people. Obama is better than the republicans, all combined. Good job Mr. President. You will be re-elected in 2012. Obama/Clinton forever.
The man hair continues to grey.....
Godspeed Mr. President. True Americans are routing for your success.
This feels like the mid-1970's all over again when Jimmy Carter was the president.
Do not underestimate how difficult it is to change this mindset. Obama is in really big trouble.
Amazing- Republican Governors (like our own "Deathpanel" Jan Brewer in AZ) lay off thousands of government workers, driving up unemployment numbers, turn down federal Medicare and unemployment compensation further damaging the economy, then blame Obama for failed recovery-that they have fought at every single turn, for a depression created by Bush and 10 years of Republican "leadership"?
Only in America.
I WILL NEVER vote for a Republican EVER again. I started out as a Republican, but time has taught me that they are not the party of the working man, only the super rich, and corporations.
if anything this just shows how fickle we as Americans are.....Obama catches bin Laden and his numbers soar. The economy doesn't create a lot of jobs in May after doing so in April and March and then his numbers drop. Anyone notice that gas prices are starting to come down? Guess after getting blamed for the rise he should get no credit for the drops. All this polling does is keep so-called "stat-geeks" employed because you can manipulate a poll by only asking a sample population. ie if you want a certain number ask a certain group moreso than the other group. If the GOP though goes out and creates all those jobs they said they would in Nov 2010 then maybe their poll numbers will rise a bit too.
And I thought Obama was the best economic leader of this century - thats a joke. He could take lessons from any of the past Presidents either Bush's, Reagan or Clinton. From 2001 to 2007 unemployment never surpassed 5%. We are at 9.1% right now as Obama has been an abject failure when it comes to leading America. Facts and numbers don't lie as much as Democrats would like to spin them.
As long as the government continues to cut spending and increase deficits, that rope that they have been pulling on to pull our economy back up the cliff that Bush-43 leaped from can break. The federal government has been recieving 1/3 less revenue for the past decade. And, it continues to limp along without revenue. Gravity is winning the battle.
Republicans take from the poor to give to corporations.
That's all anyone needs to know to make an informed decision.
Everyone knows the GOP Governs are laying off State workers to help sink the economy, State workers are the only sector not hiring...Everyone is helling job creation but are layiing off. The GOP did the same thing in Nov. election, spead fear. Ask the people in Wisconsin how they feel about the GOP takeover....Don't be fooled...
Americans are not going to accept poor results. They will clap for speeches and be forgiving to a point. But at the end of the day Americans pay attention to results. This is not going to do the Obama Administration any favors.
We are in another Great Depression! The downward trend started in 2007 when the Democrats took over Congress and accelerated when Obama became president in 2008.
The president's approval rating is in the toilet, it’s not hard to figure out why!
higher unemployment
higher taxes
higher home foreclosure rate
tax evading Democratic Party
Democrats lying thru their teeth
tax evading Obama administration
out of control budget / no budget
health care reform disaster
price of gasoline
price of food
the price of everything is going up
It is amazing how we have let these sorry Governs get away with murder, it's Obama fought is not flying anymore...
Can someone explain to me how we're currently heading toward a "depression" when the economy is growing and creating jobs (however slowly) Stocks are rebounding... Financial institutions are stabilizing... Housing market has seen the worst and is poised for recovery???
How can it be that this is considered "at risk" for depression, when in 2008 (The previous administration) we were losing 2 million jobs a month, the economy was shrinking, housing was plummeting like the CEO of the big banks, hurling themselves from their penthouse suites...??? And not a peep about a "depression"
Come on now. Could it be that some on the right may be trying to spread fear??? Nooooo... Couldn't be... Could it?
They guy who caught Bin Laden, one stupid lady told me, it is needle in haystack....he got caught, nothing is impossible....obama, go....do it...bring jobs back....o.k, focus on energy....green energy back....focus on education, science and tech, R and D, and bring Afgan troops back, Iraq troops back.....good luck.....you can do it.......you have plus point, GOP runners all bunch of rascals.....
It is going to be difficult to convince Americans that the econmy is finally fully recovered because that isn't the case. Do I blame President Obama for that?? Only somewhat most people's complaints are joblessness, higher gas prices, and just a general feeling of things not improving fast enough. if Obama could have his way unemployment would be less than 5% but that isn't the reality we're in. First we need to get those huge debts from the wars paid off and we need to fix our revenue problem which means TAXES ARE GOING UP...and not just on the wealthy but EVERYONE the Bush tax cuts are gone come next year so get ready.
The fact that Obama has been given 2+ years to fix a mess 9 years in the making is ridiculous and shows how dumb most Americans really are. Obama is going to get a 2nd term and then we will truly be able to judge his work on the economy after 2 full terms have been served.
A representative from Mesirow Financial Services was on Washington Journal this morning. She said during the mild recession that occurred under the Bush Administration, it took 38 months for the job market to recover. Why is it we expect the economy to recover i.e. unemployment, in 2 1/2 years after the greatest recession since the Great Depression. It took the Bush Administration 8 years to drive this economy into the ditch. Another expert who was on discussing the auto bailout, said that gas prices are being driven primarily by speculation.....and that Congress has failed to address that.
The America that we were was NOT scared of it's own shadow, and definitely knew that it would take time and UNITED effort to fix our problems.
What we have is mainly a spoiled, I-want-it-fixed-now-but-don't inconvenience-me, under-educated, easily scared populace
We screwed ourselves into this predicament YET would still go with the team that put us here, and has no ideas as to how to get us out that support someone who told us from the beginning that it would take time and tough measures.
Oh well, America, oh well.
To add to my comment.......the media is certainly responsible for perpetuating an environment of fear and anxiety.
When they do the polls do they only talk to the republican people.
The fact is Obama and the Democrats took a recession and tried to use it to blast through all of the horrendous liberal agenda they could. The turned a recession into a prolonged, deep recession, maybe even a depression.
The "Stimulus Plan" was a farce and had virtually NOTHING to do with creating jobs. All it did was preserve state government union jobs for a year or two but now they have to be cut anyways. So nothing gained, the pain prolonged and we're $840 BILLION deeper in debt.
Obama "saved" the cars companies??? Yes, for the unions and a foreign car maker. NOTHING was done that couldn't have been done in banruptcy proceedings, except Obama saved the unions from losing anything while the taxpayer got stuck with the tab yet again.
Obamacare??? While the country was in a deep financial crisis Obama and the Democrats decided to rework 1/6th of our economy to their liking. A huge new government entitlement programs while we're drowning in $62 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities already. Businesses uncertain of one of their biggest expenses, now thousands of Obama friends are getting waivers to avoid this the Obamacare train wreck. And then there is the Constituional issue that really ticks off many people. A flippin disaster from start to finish complements of Obama, Reid and Pelosi.
Just like the period leading up to the last election, the GOP Republicans will do everything they can to make the economy worse between now and November 2012. They do not care about everyday working Americansl; they only care about the election.
All Patriotic Americans, those who support mainstream America, who believe that America is as great as we treat those weakest among us and live up to our Progressive principles, need to hire someone today, next month, and the month after. Economists have been telling us the US companies are currently rich in cash, hesitent to hire. Many of them have begun a massive stock buyback program to reward investors. What they really need to do now, in support of the economy, the middle class and the consumers who buy their products, is begin hiring.
The next election is going to come down to hiring; the Republicans doing what they can to slow it down, Patriots doing what they can to strengthen the economy through hiring, and the middle class trying to figure out which party is telling the truth most of the time. God Bless America.
The President has made TREMENDOUS progress in spite of the undisputable fact that he has been going at it alone since his inauguration.
There's a certain segment of "Team America" (read elected officials) that would rather SINK our country and it's people than have this man succeed as President.
AZ DEM
...The fact that Obama has been given 2+ years to fix a mess 9 years in the making is ridiculous and shows how dumb most Americans really are.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Actually, most Americans are smarter than you Democrats give them credit for. They really do look not just at the calendar but at policies and reason and they actually do pay attention when promises are made. None of this helps the Obama Administration in the polls.
Part of the problem with our government is that the dems are afraid to do anything because they know the repugs will block it.
They should throw out some bills, let the repugs block them, and then tell the American people about it.
Barry did screw up major league with his tax cut extension.
BTW, the Stimulus DID work; look at the economic data (job growth, GDP, stock markets) from the early part of the Obama administration. Need More!!
face it a lot of this so-called fear is MEDIA DRIVEN...by folks that just depend on the media to supply them with what may be going on today. Ok so the May numbers were not as high as hoped, but they were not negative....the private sector is still creating jobs just slower than we want. How many jobs was this nation losing when Obama took office? Why is it when corporations and many CEOs are making record profits and bonuses that they are still not willing to hire people? I thought the extention of the Bush tax cuts was suppose to help that......I guess the GOP was wrong as well. OF course they hope the economy does NOT get much better so they can run on that. Obama's numbers are going to go up and down until election time so for Oabma suppoters I say don't let this get you down and for the Obama-haters I say don't let this get you on too much of a high.
I agree with one of the posters who said that Americans are fickle. How could his approval rating go up after killing Bin Laden then sink so many points because of one month's job numbers – RIDICULOUS!! Are Americans so stupid that they can't see the big picture or are they just too blinded by the media propaganda? First of all, the Repug governors have contributed to the high unemployment numbers by laying off public workers...so, anyone with any logical sense would realize the Repugs have this all planned because they know a poor economy is their only hope for re-election. Also, has anyone noticed that the gas prices starting rising right after the Repubs won the house? They were fine the first two years of Obama's term. Wake up people – this is all a ploy by big business and the Repub's rich friends to help them get back in the White House and also in the Senate only so they can continue the destruction they started under Bush/Cheney. Elect Repubs and we'll be in WWIII for sure!!!!!!
Much of the problem with Pres. Obama's ratings are that the news media will not mention anything good.
Job GROWTH of 52,000 per month is seen as terrible; what do you call JOB LOSSES of over 750,000 per month, like we had before Pres. Obama's stimulus started??answer: Bush policies)
@ Four and the Door
No the majority of Americans who vote are going to vote may not look at the calendar but they are going to look at what voting candidate A or B into office should ensure them. Are they going to vote for a candidate who will sign off on the ending of medicare and drastically cut other entitlement programs with no regard for the lower and middle class families? I think what WILL help the Obama administration is that the GOP has no real candidate who would do much better than Obama has done in his 1st term..in Nov of 2008 our country was hemorraging jobs and the auto industry in the US was ready to crumble Obama made tough decisions that weren't popular with many including himself. Until the GOP stops allowing fringe elements to control their party they won't be running anything for much longer.
Where are all those jobs that tax cuts for the rich were supposed to create? What has the Republican House done to create jobs? C'mon, they've had 5 months now, what's the hold up? The way the Republicons were yapping before the midterm elections I expected we would be at 5% unemployment by now. Could it be the Republicons have no interest at all in seeing the economy recover? They'd rather ruin the country in the hopes of defeating Obama than work together with Democrats to fix the problems.
you did great in 2 years....it took eight years of Bush the Thushhhhhhhhhhhhh that messed this nation....you have 16 months....good luck....show positive....my vote for you....obama2012........bring oil prices down....get manipulators....
Where's the poll on the repug Congress?? Are Americans satisfied with the success of their jobs plan?? Anybody seen one??
CNN that question about a new Depression is just way out of line....come on. You all are trying to create a storyline...not report the news. People are very pessimistic and things are not great but we are no where near a Depression. We have had 7 straight quarters of GDP growth, we have had at least 8 months of job growth from the private sector, the DOW has almost double in value since early 2009, banks are profitable again, the US Auto industry is thriving again and corporations are sitting on trillions in profits. Yet you all ask a question about a potential Depression?!?!?!
Despite you all best efforts to make everything all bad...the President still has even approval / disapproval. He is at 48% and if you look at it all he needs is to convince 3 percent more to approve to likely narrowly win re-election in 2012. If we get more robust job growth in coming months and gas prices continue to fall then he should be in good shape.
In all my 60 yrs. of being a tax paying citizen, I,ve come to a conclusion about Politics in America! Any American who does,nt have (at least 5 million in the bank) is a complete "Self-Destructive Moron who does,nt know "Diddly" about economics??? The Gop have destroyed employment in this country? How sensible people could think that our President could fix 8 years of "Plundering" in two yrs. "Should have their head examined!! Gop? God help us all?
If unemployment stays high and the economy remains in the doldrums, Obama will be beatable if the GOP/Tea Party runs a moderate candidate like Romney or Huntsman and not an extremist from the social conservative/Tea Party wing of the party like Bachmann, Palin, or Santorum.
Let's try to keep the conversation truth based libtards... George Bush inherited a recession from Bill Clinton. He correctly identified it and got the country moving again, then 9/11 hit. Even after that he had 52 months of economic and job growth. Obama could only DREAM about doing as well as Bush did. If it wasn't for the Democrat free mortgages for every low income person program, the country would still be steaming right along.
We have to stop blaming the president for every economic numbers, business failures or market report. Don't you understand he is not creating the problem or he wants the economy not to recover so people can get jobs. I think the public is being very crude and rude to attack the president at every angle. We ought be ashamed of ourselves for our behaviors. Instead of asking what can we do to fix our problem. Shame on the Republicans/ Tea Party members for being out there to bash the president at every chance you get when your parties could not even get along. If these the political future we are setting for the future politicians/ young generation we are being stupid. the Republicans / Tea Party should get off there rockers, help the president, compromise and lets put our country back to work. There is no sense being a road block for success. Poll numbers and approval ratings are a joke. Number one you only question a selected group of people, which is wrong to start with and the people that make the assumptions the so called political analysts are wrong as well. To me numbers mean absolutely nothing. I value substance, vision, trying to reach, be humble and think for the American people, fix our economy and put people back to work. So stop your foolishness saying the presidents numbers are down.and for those who want to make Obama a one time president stay tuned. Some of you never liked him from the get go but we have made a history in our country to have the first black president and we cherish that things are looking up instead of playing which I call showing your true colors. We love our country so lets work to get it better.
These polls can't ALL be right. I highly question them – too many sharp swings and too many inconsistencies from poll to poll – especially the ones taken in the summer months, which always seem to be skewed to the right over time. Cyclical? Vacation season having a bearing on respondents? Don't know what it is, but every single year, it's the same thing from June to about September.
Considering that the President had the GOP/TP as the party of NO, HELL NO to try to work with without any positive input from them (even though they created much of the mess the US is in) he did an outstanding job. More has to be done and I am sure he will. The GOP/TP has forgone all credibility to do any job – not to mention a better job. It shows in so many "sound bites" but mostly in their conviction that is more for the rich – less for the poor and middle class! Whoever votes for any „conservative line“is being taken for a rough ride!
First jobs
Past 6 moths many states are focusing on social issues
You Cut WIC bottom of that chain lose jobs
You cut Medicare bottom of that chain lose Jobs
Now many have credit score to buy house but they are not buying because they don’t know what will happen tomorrow
There is no team work
president .congress senate and states has to work together
It is amazing to me that 48% of the American people approve of this fool. It has to be the 48% that pay no taxes and have their hand out for Obummie's welfare state. The working people or people that actually want to work are feed up with this fool. His big economic win was McDonald's creating one half of the 54,000 jobs the US economy picked up in May. I hope all you recent college grads who voted for Obummie like your job at McDonald's.
Also 33% of the employers that are offering healthcare for their employees are ditching current medical plans because of Obummie care. Obummie's policies have ruined this country. Even the big dumbocrap supporters of Obummie care are asking for exemptions for their voters.
You libs are completely unhinged. You have to stop giving Obama a pass for this failing economy; especially since its his leftist ideology that is destroying. All of you Lefties out there seem to fall into two groups: either you're pretending it isn't a problem (and republicans are just making it up), or you believe there is a problem (and you're blaming it all on republicans).
Three years into this economy, and Obama owns it. He's broken all his promises, and everything he's done has made it worse. When Bush was inaugurated, he inherited the Clinton recession – which at the time was the largest recession since the depression. By this time in his Presidency, he'd already created 2 million jobs, and stabilized the economy. Unemployment never got above 6.5%. And he did this without borrowing 6.2 trillion from your grandkids.
In contrast, the democrats took control of congress in 2007. They had total control over all branches in 2008. They're Kenesyian spending and Progressive economics are responsible for the mess we're in. The very idea that we can spend our way to prosperity is ludicrous.
The rest of you are so steeped in DNC talking points and koolaid, its almost shocking. The very idea that republicans are somehow only "for the rich and evil corporations" and "take from the poor", is such a caricature. You libs are so funny... you think republicans are like scrooge mcduck and they sit on their piles of money and twist their sinister pencil mustaches and laugh at you while they try to destroy your lives by giving you the cheapest gas on the planet. You're all such a joke.
The rest of your comments are such a stew of bad information, faulty assumptions, poor economics, and political brainwashing... I don't really even know where to begin.
Maybe a depression is what we need. The last time the gap between the top 5% and 95% of the rest of us was this great was in the late 1920s, before the first depression...maybe we need a "reset".
My God are people fickle. Things are better than they were 2 years ago, no doubt about that, the problem is they aren't getting better fast enough. Depression? Only if we elect a moron like Ron Paul to the White House.
if the press would go back to 2 hours of coverage at night report news instead of trying to make it and not have to twist things for ratings, maybe Americans would not panic and we could recover.
They scared people into losing Trillions in the stock market in 2008 instead of teaching what history taught us about 1929. They doing the same thing now- and causing panic.
And RAISE TAXES ON EVERYONE! Another history lesson- lowest tax rate in history- the 20's – just prior to the crash. Second lowest the 200's just prior to the largest recession in history! See the trend?
At least he's trying to fix the economy, even if he's being obstructed by the big buisness, and big oil GOP, I'm not that much of a fool to think the Greed party would do better.
What has been the Republican solution to the high price of OPEC oil? Call up the Saudis, and ask them to pump more. Does anyone remember what happened when Bush-43 made a spectacle out of it and paid them a visit? He was declined, and they cut production further raising prices. What would Republicans do today about the high price of oil? Nothing.
What has been the Republican solution to create jobs? Cut taxes and introduce tax credits to companies that ship jobs overseas. The Bush-43 years saw the slowest job growth on record. Jobs grew faster during the Great Depression than during his time in office. Did you know that companies can get a tax credit for paying taxes overseas, just like you do for paying state taxes? Did you know that? Imagine that. US companies only pay X% in taxes, including what they pay overseas.
Folks have to give themselves an extra thinking. If there are any who are thinking changing the leader at this time is the only solution, should think more deeply. The world economy has changed everywhere. Even those who showed in the past they did the good job in economy, not this time. If people are not careful and let the tolerance slip, things can turn from better to worse!
@ Democrat Swamp Inspector
just WHAT recession did President Bush inherit from President Clinton? Like most FoxNewsies you guys tend to create your own "facts" I guess turning a surplus into a deficit was indeed a recession.
Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?
the economy is not getting better!!!!! stop listening to MSNBC
I will tell you one thing for sure, If the Republicans win in 2012 it may very well be a Depression and they will finish what Bush almost did, the destruction of this country as we knew it!
The Republicans are running on the same platform as they always have, No government involment in anything, No regulations to corporations and Wall street, No taxes for the wealthy, and Draconian social changes of we have fought for everyone over the last sixty years!
Yeah but Palin will really help the economy right? Unbelievable. If Obama would only tell the nation what he has done. Unfortunatley one of his down falls is that he fails to explain what he has done and how it has helped so it allows the GOP to create lies and tell them over and over again until the ignorant population believes it. "If you tell a lie long enough it becomes truth" Goebels 1938
God help us all and the President. He has one giant mess to deal with. This wasnt going to go away quickly folks. The damage was deep and its going to years to climb out. But we can persevere. We incurred huge debts after WWII and paid down the debts over decades that followed. Our leaders must work together to fix the issues at hand. No more divisive politics and worrying about womens reproductive rights or gays. Leadership should be focused on the economy as top priority.
The economy is not going to start running on all cylinders until the housing market finishes going through its' contraction and correction and finally stabilizes. The prices of homes (not the values, the prices) have been artificially inflated because of the corrupt mortgages and home loans. Housing prices will need to drop another 40-60% before the economy stabilizes.
Selling prices were not driven by home values, but rather the prices banks wanted to put on the mortgages and then bet that mortgage would fail by taking out an insurance policy against it. We several decades worth of price increases (over 500% in some areas) over the span of just one decade, while their actual values should have (and did!) remained flat because average incomes remained flat or some cases declined.