Zogby Interactive: Obama Approval Falls Ties Low of 39%; 63% Call Him Weak Leader

68% Say Nation Headed in Wrong Direction

UTICA, New York - President Barack Obama's job approval rating has fallen again to 39%, equaling a low since he took office. Also, 63% of likely voters say Obama is a weak leader, compared to 19% who label him strong.

Much of the slippage in Obama's approval rating from 42% on Dec. 1 was caused by a drop of nine percentage points among Democrats (82% to 73%). His approval also went down among independents, from 39% to 36%. Just 7% of Republicans approve. His approval was also 39% on Nov. 22.

These results are from a Zogby Interactive poll of 1,914 likely voters conducted from Dec. 8-10, 2010.

The survey also finds voters fairly split as to whether Obama has done better, worse or about the same as other presidents in keeping his campaign promises. However, only 29% rated how well he has kept his promises as excellent (4%) or good (25%). He is rated poor on this question by 42% and fair by 27%.

When it comes to Obama's negotiations with Congressional Republicans, 26% say he gives in too easily, 19% say he is unwilling to compromise and 18% say he takes the right approach. The largest response total is the 33% who do not agree with any of those descriptions

Overall, do you approve or disapprove of Barack Obama's job as president?

Obama Job Performance	Dec. 10	Dec. 1	Nov. 22	Nov. 15	Nov. 10	Nov. 1	Oct. 27	Oct. 25	Oct. 18	Oct. 14	Oct. 11	Oct. 4	Sept. 27	Sept. 20
Approve	39%	42%	39%	42%	42%	45%	43%	47%	46%	44%	49%	46%	45%	49%
Disapprove	61%	58%	60%	58%	57%	54%	56%	53%	54%	56%	51%	53%	54%	51%
Not sure	<1%	<1%	1%	<1%	1%	<1%	<1%	<1%	<1%	<1%	<1%	1%	<1%	<1%

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Other Measures of Obama

Would you say President Obama is a strong leader, a weak leader or neither?

*Obama is&*	All voters	Democrats	Republicans	Independents
Strong leader	19%	41%	2%	12%
Weak leader	63%	35%	88%	68%
Neither	15%	19%	9%	18%
Not sure	3%	5%	1%	3%

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Which of these statements best describes President Obama?

*President Obama*	All voters	Democrats	Republicans	Independents
Gives in too easily to Republicans	26%	48%	4%	26%
Is unwilling to compromise	19%	5%	32%	20%
Takes the right approach to finding agreement with Republicans	18%	30%	8%	16%
None of these	33%	12%	53%	33%
Not sure	4%	5%	4%	5%

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Liberals are even more likely to say Obama gives in too easily at 60%.

How would you compare how President Obama has done keeping his campaign promises compared to other recent Presidents?

*President Obama has kept* *campaign promises&*	All voters	Democrats	Republicans	Independents
Better than other recent Presidents	25%	43%	10%	23%
Worse than other recent Presidents	30%	16%	46%	27%
Same as other recent Presidents	36%	37%	33%	39%
None of these	5%	3%	7%	4%
Not sure	4%	3%	5%	6%

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Other results include:

68% of voters believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction.
12% approve of the job performance of Congress, and the job approval of the two parties n Congress is nearly identical, 28% for Republicans and 27% for Democrats.

Pollster John Zogby: "It was a bad week for Obama's relationship with his party's base, which sees him giving in too easily to the Republicans. That has to be a worry for the White House, but Obama is more concerned about showing swing voters he can get things done, especially anything that might stimulate the economy."

The interactive poll consisted of 1,914 likely voters and has a margin of error of +/-2.3%. A sampling of Zogby International's online panel, which is representative of the adult population of the U.S., was invited to participate. Slight weights were added to region, party, age, race, religion, gender, and education to more accurately reflect the population.