A new poll released by the Washington Post/ABC News reports very bad news for Obama. The President has hit record disapproval rating (56% among RVs, 55% among adults) and his Affordable Care Act is tanking in the public’s opinion.
Not only does the public disapprove of Obama’s job performance, more than half do not like him. Fifty-two percent say they have an unfavorable image of the President. To drive that home, the three metrics used to measure Obama’s “leadership and empathy” are all in the red.
Half or more now say he is not a strong leader, does not understand the problems of “people like you,” and is not honest and trustworthy. Perceptions of the president as a strong leader have dropped 15 points since January, and over the past year the percentage of registered voters who say he is not honest and trustworthy has increased 12 points.
These ratings carry over to opinions on Obamacare. Fifty-six percent say Obama is not a good manager and this is evident when looking at opinions about his health care program specifically. Almost two-thirds (63%) disapprove of of the program’s roll out and 57% straight up oppose the Affordable Healthcare Act, a 10% jump up from last month. The lynchpin of Obama’s program, the mandate to purchase insurance also performs quite poorly with two thirds (65%) opposing it.
Polls are considered a snapshot in time, so there is no telling if America’s sour outlook on Obama and Obamacare will stick. Obama has promised to “re-brand” his health care program and it remains to be seen if the country will give him a second chance. Certainly the unintended consequences or rather, the particulars of the law which were concealed from the public, are not popular and indicate that if the public had “read the law before they passed it” it might not have ever been approved.