Obama Gets 51% Approval Rating for the First Time in Years

For the first time in almost three years, President Obama has risen above 50 percent in his approval rating by striking 51 percent in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll.

The latest rating is a hike from Obama’s lowest rating of 40 percent a year ago. In the latest poll, 45 percent disapprove of the job Obama is doing for the country—down five points since summer and 10 points since its peak in 2013.

The poll also finds that 50 percent favor his reversal of a drawdown of troops in Afghanistan while 39 percent oppose it.

The poll also looked at ratings for Congress. Democrats rate a low 35 percent approval, with 59 percent disapproving. Republicans have worse ratings with only 24 percent approving and 71 percent disapproving.

But how the two sides feel about their own also shows signs of distress. Republicans, however, disapprove of their own party more than Democrats. While only 31 percent of Democrats disapprove of the Democrats in Congress, 51 percent of Republicans disapprove of their own caucus in Washington. Additionally, self-professed liberals are close in sentiment to regular Democrats with 39 percent disapproving of the Democrats in Congress. On the other hand, fully 64 percent of conservatives disapprove of Congressional Republicans.

Meanwhile, independents are unhappy with both sides. 65 percent of independents disapprove of Democrats while an even higher 75 percent disapprove of Republicans. Among independents, whites and non-whites alike tend to have the same feelings about the parties.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston, or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.