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Obama's Approval Rating Plummets

Jeremy Fuster |
June 17, 2013 | 6:38 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

(Obama/Creative Commons)
(Obama/Creative Commons)
A poll by CNN and ORC International released on Monday shows that President Barack Obama's approval rating has dropped to 45%, down eight points from last month and the lowest rating in more than 18 months.

 

The poll comes as Obama faces multiple scandals and criticism from all sides, as the White House attempts to deal with controversy over the recently-leaked PRISM surveillance program, the targeting of conservative groups' tax-exemption applications by the Internal Revenue Service, the administration's handling of the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, and the Justice Department's collection of phone records of Associated Press journalists and bureaus as part of an investigation into leaks. 

 

The poll also shows that for the first time since Obama took office, half of the public says they do not believe he is honest and trustworthy. And 54% say that they disapprove of how Obama is handling his job, the highest since November 2011.

 

CNN's numbers show that Obama's image has taken a deeper hit than just his approval rating: 

 

"Fifty-seven percent of those questioned say they disagree with the president's views on the size and power of the federal government, and 53% say he cannot manage the government effectively. Fifty-two percent say the president is a strong and decisive leader. That's still a majority, but it's down six points from last month.

Forty-three percent of the public says that the Obama administration has gone too far in restricting civil liberties to fight terrorism, with 38% saying the administration has been about right and 17% saying it has not gone far enough."

 

SEE ALSO | OPINION: Obama Has Lost The Faith Of The American People

 

But perhaps the most frightening number for the Obama administration is the Presidents approval rating among Americans under 30, a group that was once considered to be one of his biggest bases of support. Last month, 65% of Americans ages 18-29 approved of Obama, but Monday's poll shows that number has dropped 17 points to 48%.

 

Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer told CNN that the drop may be a sign that the youth of America no longer trust Obama to bring about the change he promised when he was first elected: 

 

"Part of it is probably that for younger people, the surveillance story is not a scandal but a sign the promise of 2008 was not fulfilled -- they see this and say he didn't do what he said he was going to do," Zelizer said.

"Part of this is a frustration in the gridlock in Washington. It's not just the scandals but the sense that nothing is going to get done. (Obama) hasn't been able to change Washington in that way. Instead of dealing with immigration or jobs, we're dealing with IRS and surveillance," he said.

 

Read the full story on CNN.

Reach Executive Producer Jeremy Fuster here or follow him on Twitter



 

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