Fourth Estate Newspaper

Issue date: 3/11/10 Section: News

President Barack Obama's approval ratings have been steadily declining since January of last year. He has lost 16 percent in his approval rating, according to Gallup.com.
Gallup.com records the daily approval ratings of the president, shows a steady decline in his approval ratings since coming into office.
When Obama was inaugurated, his approval rating was at 67 percent. As of Feb. 24, it was at 51 percent.
Timothy Dale, assistant professor of social change and development, explained any approval rating more than 50 percent is actually good for a president.
According to Dale, he does not believe the American public has a problem with the president.
He believes people have seen a drop in the approval ratings because when the president is being elected or has just been elected, he or she creates unity and hope for the American public.
Dale explained over time there are several factors for drops in approval ratings.
"When it comes down to policy making," Dale said, "the president is always going to do something that makes somebody upset. Every time a policy initiative is passed there is a group of people who do not like it. Once you start accumulating all those things, all those policies and things that a president is supposed to do, you get a build up of people who previously were really happy about him, and now have a reason to not be so happy."
It only takes one issue to make someone upset, Dale explained.
One person may be upset about health care reform. Another may be upset about environmental policy, and other people may be upset because he is moving too slowly on a different issue.
Sarah Rinfret, assistant professor of political science, believes the economic crisis is the main problem Americans have with President Obama.
The unemployment rates are still high, and people want to see results, Rinfret said.

Rinfret also explained people have high expectations for presidents. Both McCain and Obama made promises during their campaigns, and the American public had high expectations for whoever came out on top. It just happened to be Obama who won the presidency.
She believes there are a variety of issues that play into that.
The issues could include health care, environmental policy and the economic crisis. These issues all play a key role in the president's approval ratings, whether he is taking it too fast for one issue or too slow for another.
Rinfret also believes the president may be focusing on too much at once.
"Jobs seem to be the major concern of the American public, so specific ways to get Americans back into the work place may be a way to fix this," Rinfret said.
She believes the promises made during the campaign cannot be fulfilled in one year, nor should the president be expected to.
"Not only that, but there is a lot of gridlock at the congressional level, which makes it difficult to move forward with policy making," Rinfret said.
The conflict between the democrats and republicans is gridlocked due to opposing views from each party. At the Senate, specifically, you cannot move past the gridlock because no one is willing to budge and compromise.
"Both parties have strong perspectives," Rinfret explained, "Because of that, it has been very hard to reach a compromise."
Dale explained he does not believe the American public is blaming the president for any of the previous problems, but the public does expect results.

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