Field Poll | Declining majority of Californians approve of Obama's performance
Mixed appraisal of his handling of health care. Just 12% approve of the job Congress is doing, a record low. Dim view of its handling of health care.
Published on Mar 19, 2010 - 7:11:49 AM

By: Mark DiCamillo and Mervin Field, Field Research Corporation

Mar. 19, 2010 - Slightly more than half of California voters (52%) approves of President Barack Obama's overall job performance. This represents a continuing slide in the President's ratings from the 65% high mark he received one year ago, shortly after taking office.

Voters are now evenly split in their assessment of Obama's handling of the issue of health care, with 45% approving and 45% disapproving. This however is an improvement from January when more voters disapproved by a 53% to 39% margin. Most of the improvement comes from Democrats, who are now more than three times as likely to approve as disapprove of the President's performance on health care.

Nearly eight in ten Californians (79%) now disapprove of the job the U.S. Congress is doing, while just 12% approve. These are the lowest assessments that Californians have ever given that body in Field Poll measurements dating back nearly twenty years. The recent decline in voters' overall appraisal of the Congress' performance coincides with voters' very negative appraisal of the way Congress is handling the issue of health care. The current poll finds 80% of voters disapproving of Congress' performance in this area.

These are the findings from the latest Field Poll conducted March 9-15 among a random sample of the state's registered voters.

Obama's overall job rating continues to slide

A small majority (52%) of California voters now approves of the job that Obama is doing, while 37% disapprove. This represents a continuing slide in the President's ratings. In March 2009 a very large majority of this state's voters (65%) gave Obama a positive job rating and just 21% rated him negatively. However, in each of three subsequent measures there has been a steady erosion in his job approval ratings.

Huge partisan differences

There is a huge partisan gap in voter perceptions of the job performance of the President. While nearly three in four Democrats (74%) and a majority of non-partisans (55%) approve of Obama, among Republicans just 17% approve.

Obama's continuing decline in approval is occurring among voters in all parties. One year ago 87% of Democrats approved of his performance overall. Now approval is 74%. Among non-partisans voter assessments have declined from 69% in March 2009 to 55% at present. Among Republicans the President's 17% approval rating is about half what it was one year ago (30%).

Obama's rating on health care issue

Californians are now evenly divided – 45% approving and 45% disapproving – in their appraisal of the job the President is doing in handling the issue of health care. This is an improvement over what it was two months ago. At that time just 39% approved of his performance on this issue, while 53% disapproved.

All of this improvement comes from the state's Democratic voters. Democrats now rate the President's handling of health care in a positive light by more than a three to one margin (70% to 21%).

By contrast, Republicans continue to have a very negative view of Obama's handling of this issue. Among GOPers 80% disapprove while just 14% approve.

Non-partisans are more negative than positive in their assessments, with 38% approving of the President and 45% disapproving, similar to what was found two months ago.

Record low appraisal of the Congress

Just 12% of this state's voters now approve of the job the Congress is doing, while 79% disapprove. This is by far the most negative assessment of that body ever found by The Field Poll during its nearly twenty years of tracking congressional job performance in California.

Voters' very negative appraisal of the Congress spans all partisan subgroups, with 14% of Democrats, 6% of Republicans and 15% of non-partisans approving.

Dismal view of Congress' handling of health care

Last January just about one in four (23%) voters in this state gave Congress a positive evaluation of the way it was handling the issue of health care, while 69% disapproved.

That poor assessment, however, has gotten even worse over the past two months. Now, four out of five California voters (80%) disapprove of the way federal lawmakers are dealing with health care, while only 12% approve.

Very partisan appraisals of the job each party is doing in addressing health care

By a 58% to 31% margin voters have taken a negative view of the job congressional Democrats are doing in addressing health care. However, voter appraisals of congressional Republicans' performance is even worse – 66% disapproving and 22% approving.

Views of the way each party is handling the issue are highly partisan. For example, this state's rank-and-file Democrats give their party's congressional Democrats a slightly more positive than negative rating in their handling of health care, while very large majorities of Republicans and non-partisans disapprove. Similarly, while Republicans have a slightly more positive than negative view of the way congressional Republicans are handling the issue, greater than seven in ten Democrats and non-partisans disapprove.

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