The latest polling from Rasmussen Reports shows that President Obama’s net approval rating is lower today than it was two years ago. Today, Obama’s net approval rating among likely voters is minus-3 percentage points (48 percent approval to 51 percent disapproval), while his net approval rating among those who feel “strongly” (either way) is minus-14 points (29 percent approval to 43 percent disapproval). On October 19, 2010, Obama’s net approval rating was minus-1 point (49 percent approval to 50 percent disapproval), while his net approval rating among those who felt “strongly” was minus-10 points (30 approval to 40 percent disapproval).
So, over the past two years, Obama’s net approval rating has dropped 2 points (from minus-1 to minus-3), while his net approval rating among those who feel “strongly” has dropped 4 points (from minus-10 to minus-14).
In 2010, of course, Obama and his party’s low approval ratings, stemming mostly their having passed Obamacare against the clear will of the American people, led to the Republicans’ biggest electoral gains in the House of Representatives since before the release of Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart’s 1939 classic, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. In that exceptional film, Jefferson Smith (Stewart’s character) reminds us, “Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books.”