President Obama’s average approval rating sank to a new low of 41% in the 11th financial quarter of his term, according to a new analysis of Gallup’s daily tracking poll.
That number is down six percentage points from Obama’s 10th quarter average, and is the lowest 11th quarter average posted by a sitting president since Jimmy Carter, who lost his reelection bid in 1980. (Carter’s approval average that quarter was 31%.)
Obama’s average approval rating over his entire term is now 50%.
Gallup’s Jeffrey M. Jones notes that while the 11th quarter was so far Obama's worst, the 12th- and 13th- quarter averages will be better indicators of his reelection prospects. Those averages historically “give a strong indication of whether he will win a second term,” Jones wrote in a summary of Gallup’s findings.
Of 262 presidential quarters in which Gallup has calculated average presidential job approval ratings, the 11th quarter of Obama’s term ranks 220th.
kim.geiger@latimes.com
