President Barack Obama’s approval ratings dipped below 50% for the first time on the back of continuing job losses and a swing through Asia that provided few dividends and worse, made him look weak and ineffectual abroad, especially in dealing with the Chinese.
Obama was down to a 49% approval rating in the Gallup daily tracking poll out Friday. Obama started out his presidency with a 68% approval rating in Gallup but has seen steady declines since August. Some political analysts see no recovery for Obama’s numbers unless and until the economy rebounds and Americans find jobs.
Obama has lost ground in the opinion polls due to the economy, but the sharp dip below 50% may have been due to his recent week-long trip to Asia, according to Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.
The main image of Obama abroad that really broke through to the American public out of the trip — Obama bowing to the Japanese emperor — didn’t exactly reinforce the image of a muscular leader abroad. Even his biggest supporters felt let down when Obama walked on egg-shells around the Chinese, being zealous not to challenge his hosts on human rights. “They don’t want this narrative that the US is a declining power and China is a rising power, and the trip just reinforced that,” Adam Segal, a senior fellow on China at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Politico.
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