A new poll from CBS News offers some important indications from Americans that the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats are losing control over their agenda. In the past month, Obama has declined six points in approval, and this is a loss that comes primarily from Democratic and independent voters.
President Obama’s approval rating has fallen six points in the past month [to 57%], a new CBS News poll finds, amid growing skepticism about his handling of the economy and questions about the impact of the stimulus package.
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The decline in support is coming not from Republicans - whose support for the president has actually risen - but from Democrats and independents. While 82 percent of Democrats still approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing, this number is down ten points from last month.
The president’s support among independents has fallen eight points to 50 percent. Only 30 percent of Republicans back Mr. Obama, though that’s up from 23 percent in June.
Congress remains strikingly unpopular.
And only 22 percent approve of the job Congress is doing overall, a decrease of six points from last month though an increase over its approval rating last fall.
Republicans will need to continue stressing the failure of the stimulus package. Voters are growing increasingly frustrated with its failure to live up to expectations set out by the Administration.
Despite White House efforts to stress the implementation of the stimulus package, just 21 percent say it has had a positive impact on the economy. The majority of those surveyed - 60 percent - say it has had no impact, while 15 percent say the stimulus has made the economy worse.
On healthcare, things may be looking slightly better for Obama, but still less than half of those surveyed approve of his reform efforts. Taxpayers are concerned with the potential costs they will have to pay to fund a massive overhaul.
Perceptions of the president’s handling of health care reform have improved five points since last month, and his approval rating on the issue now stands at 49 percent.
That same percentage says that America must fix health care because of the bad economy. But nearly as many - 46 percent - say the country cannot now afford to reform health care. Among Republicans that figure is 55 percent.