RASMUSSEN ON OBAMA'S APPROVAL – AT 10:17 A.M. ET:  As we await the State of the Union message, where does President Obama stand with the American public?

Our favorite pollster, Scott Rasmussen, reports his findings this morning:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -15 (see trends)...

...Overall, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty-three percent (53%) disapprove.

COMMENT:  Rasmussen polls among likely voters.  So, 42% of likely voters strongly disapprove of the president's performance.  That is a startling figure, only one year after inauguration. 

But remember that Bill Clinton turned a similar situation around, and was reelected in 1996, thanks in part to an absysmal GOP campaign, something that can happen again. 

Recent polling shows, by the way, that the president's foreign policy continues to enjoy reasonable public support, in part because the public backs the sending of more troops to Afghanistan.  That support can easily be eroded, of course, of Obama collapses on Iran and continues to treat terrorists as shoplifters.

January 27, 2010