Poll: Obama approval ratings drop, Americans say he's not trustworthy
Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama's approval rating among American voters has dropped to its lowest number in Quinnipiac University polling since he became President, according to a survey released on Tuesday that also raised new doubts about trust.
As Obama juggles the bungled rollout of HealthCare.gov and questions over his initial promises about health care reform become magnified, only 39% of voters approve how he is handling his job, while 54% disapprove, the new data from the school's Polling Institute shows.
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Approval numbers for the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, continue to illustrate wariness among American voters about health care reform, with only 19% saying they believe the quality of their health care will improve in the next year.
Forty-three percent say it will get worse, while 33% say the controversial law won't affect their health care, according to Quinnipiac.
Those numbers reflect less confidence in the law from a Gallup poll released in late October, when a quarter of Americans said they believed Obamacare would make things better, while 34% said it would make things worse and 36% said it would not make a big difference.
Poll: Disapproval of Congress at historic high
Also for the first time in Quinnipiac polling, more voters say the President is not trustworthy. The new survey was conducted last week and over the weekend, mostly after Obama offered an apology on Thursday to people who are losing their insurance because of changes from the federal health care law.
When selling health care reform in his first term, the President repeatedly assured Americans they could keep their plans, if they liked them. However, that has not turned out to be the case, with some Americans holding certain plans getting cancellation notices from their providers.
According to the poll, a majority of voters, 52%, say the President is not honest and trustworthy, compared to 44% who say the opposite. It's the first time in Quinnipiac history that the president's trustworthy numbers are underwater.
The Obama administration maintains that a majority of people who are losing their current plans will be better off under Obamacare, but officials and some members of Congress have pledged to seek some kind of solution for those getting dropped by their insurance provider.
Asked if the president knowingly deceived Americans with his promise, 46% of voters said they believe he made the statement on purpose, while 47% disagreed.
"President Obama's misstatement, 'If you like your health plan, you can keep it,' left a bad taste with a lot of people," Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement.
Nearly three-quarters of voters favor extending the March 31 deadline to sign up for health insurance or face a penalty. Many Republican lawmakers in Congress, as well as some Democrats, have floated the idea of postponing the deadline to make up for lost time during the rocky rollout of HealthCare.gov since October 1.
The new Quinnipiac Poll is the latest to show the President's approval rating is declining amid the disastrous health care sign-up process.
Malloy said Obama, like all new presidents, had a "honeymoon" with American voters for the first few years of his presidency.
"As the marriage wore on, he kept his job approval scores in the respectable, though not overwhelming, 40s. Today, for the first time it appears that 40 percent floor is cracking," he said, adding that Obama's job approval rating has fallen to the level of former President George W. Bush at the same period of his Presidency.
While the President has a positive rating, 52%-42%, for how he handles terrorism, he gets negative ratings on foreign policy, immigration, the federal budget, and the economy. A majority of voters, 53%, say the Obama administration has not been competent in managing the U.S. government, according to Quinnipiac.
For the survey, Quinnipiac questioned 2,545 registered voters nationwide by telephone from November 6-11. The poll has a sampling error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.
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The only thing that I'm surprised about is how could it take so long.
Obama did not causethe greedy insurance companies to eliminate their plans for other plans that will give themmore profits. His intent was not to force anyone to change their heath plans if they liked what they had and go to the exchanges. This again is pure American greed by Health insurance companies. Never forget they are FOR- PROFIT. I know – I work for one
He is not dishonest, he is just not smart and most of the time doesn't really understand what he is talking about. Sad for the leader of the free world.
The biggest voting mistake I've ever made. How many more "Bad weeks" are we going to suffer through with him?
Well at least his lies didn't kill off thousands of Americans and wounded thousands more.
The president did NOT apologize to the American people! Until he stands in front of the White House, looks us in the eye, and tells us straight on that he messed up and is sorry, it doesn't matter
I voted for Obama the first time around. It did not take long to realize that I had been had, that I had voted for a George Bush Jr clone. I stayed home for the re election. One thing that I can say for Bush, although I stand against what he stands for, George Bush is George Bush, you get what you paid for. What I bought is a George Bush clone but without any shred of integrity, a dishonest snake oil salesman that can lie so naturally, can fool some people over and over, even though he has not kept a single promise made as candidate Obama.
"President Obama's misstatement, 'If you like your health plan, you can keep it,'
Once would have been a misstatement. To repeat it dozens of times... that's more than a fib!
Down....down....down....as goes the country so does the POTUS' ratings. If you voted for this guy, especially if you voted for him twice.....plant your right boot firmly against your buttocks.
Obama did not lie!!!! He was correct because he did not say "health insurance plan". He said "health plan" and technically he is correct because everyone will be able to remain within their existing health plan, but they will have a different insurance policy and be in a different insurance pool....but their health "plan (eg doctors, hospitals) can remain the same. Frankly I can't believe more people didn't pick up on this.
I suspect that there are some health insurance policies are dropped because there were and are Republicans involved trying to make the president look bad. This isn't saying that he's blameless, but he isn't the only one at fault.
He's an Illinois politician. I always knew he was up to no good, because no one can succeed in Illinois without being dishonest. Only took 5 years for the majority to figure out what us down-state Illinoisians have known all along; never trust a Chicago politician.
No one with an IQ above a rock should have known this.
That 39% must not read the Web or News otherwise Obama approval would be 1% which are relatives !
The lack of response is deafening.
I'm still with this President. He ended two wars, which I feel was his most important job. He also was one of the few politicians brave enough to come up with and pursue solutions to the national healthcare crisis facing this country. He deserves some of the blame for the mess the start up has been, but he's shown leadership in facing the healthcare crisis which was ignored for so long by both parties. He also helped end the recession. Cheers to left and right!
How could you trust someone for most important administrative job on earth with no experience? It's too late. You can't turn back the clock but make sure whom you're electing in next elections.
Yeah, but most people a m0r0ns. So what does this poll tell us really?
With good cause, as I see it. In his first run, I was an Obama precinct worker in my state. He was the far better alternative. Sadly, he took office with a staff of amateurs, and no experience dealing with national level issues. In his re-election, I did NOT work for him, but did vote for him...again, the better candidate, by far. Sadly, that has not worked out. He has NOT proven to be an effective President. He has not surrounded himself with good people, and he had not shown that he understands the REAL world of politics. The NEXT election is going to be a painful thing indeed.
Why won't president Obama just tell the truth as an American he has let me down in front of the other countries I do feel ashamed over this he is my president and I'm now embarrased
Takes awhile, but the drones may at last have begun to awaken from their cult like induced insanity.
No! I have never trusted Obama....
'If you like your health plan, you can keep it..."
To have believed this claim, one would have had to believe that Obama and/or Congress could control how health insurance companies run their businesses. I guess this speaks to the ignorance of many voters.
This President has lied repeatedly on several different subjects. He seems to not realize that integrity as a leader is about as important is know how (of which he really doesn't understand either).
I do hope the people that voted him into office will remember in the future how their experiment turned out.
Hurray! The pious KoolAid drinkers have taken their camel necks out of the sand! I shall keep quiet while I watch it all go down, way down!