Obama approval rating drops to a new low of 52%

Sliding down the popularity chart, the approval rating of US President Barack Obama has dropped down to a new low of 52 per cent, the Gallup Poll said in its latest national opinion poll.

Till early July it was 60 per cent, but since then has been gradually sliding down – apparently due to the debate in the health care that has been going on, during which his opponents seems to have an upper hand in convincing the people against his health care reform proposals.

"President Barack Obama's most recent weekly job approval rating is 52 per cent for the seven-day period ending on Sunday, similar to the 54 per cent reading from the previous week but down significantly from 59 per cent a month ago. His average disapproval rating during the past week is 41 per cent," Gallup said.

In June, Obama maintained approval ratings in the 60 per cent range, roughly twice his disapproval rating. He still enjoys a double-digit gap between his average approval and average disapproval scores — 11 percentage points for the week of August 17-23.

However, that buffer has shrunk considerably since mid-July, due to diminished support across the board, Gallup said.