In poll after poll, it seems President Barack Obama attracts much more intense opposition than support. In the March 19-22, 2011 Economist/YouGov Poll, for example, more than twice as many adults said they strongly disapproved of the way he was handling his job than strongly approved. 34% strongly disapproved; 16% strongly approved.
Most polls just count those responses to the approval question, but don’t ask respondents to give their reasons. In the Economist/YouGov polls, a randomly selected half of respondents are given the space to do just that. That weak level of aggregate support is consistent with what respondents say when they are asked to explain their opinion of the President’s performance.
The Disapprovers: Most of those who disapprove have no difficulty putting their reasons down, and sometimes in language they might be unlikely to use to a human interviewer on the phone, or that a human interviewer would be able to record. For example, one respondent called President Obama “THE BIGGEST CROOK IN OFFICE,” written in capital letters and followed by 11 exclamation points.
Several disapprovers call the President a liar, and a few (but only a few) repeat the fringe criticisms that the President is a Muslim, or a Socialist, or not an American. However, those references total less than 5% all of those who disapprove. Most of the other disapprovers have more specific criticisms.
More of the criticisms have to do with the way the President is handling the country’s problems. That includes the economy, immigration and government spending. Some respondents talk about their personal situation. One writes: “…my family is losing everything because I lost my job, taxes take most of what my husband makes and everything costs more including food and gas ….”
There are some criticisms of specific programs or positions the President has taken, including same-sex marriage, immigration and health care (though there are fewer mentions of the health care reform bill than one might expect, given its prominence in the 2010 campaign debate).
But the most prominent criticisms say more about how people who don’t like the President see him as a person and a leader. Many call him weak, not a leader, inexperienced, or focused on himself and not the country. Others say he “passes the ball,” leaving critical decisions to others, including Congress.
Others, including some who say they voted for President Obama in the 2008 election, are disappointed in the way he has governed and in what they describe as his unwillingness to keep his promises. One of his voters wrote: “He is now letting the ‘fringe’ Republicans make changes to policies that should be in place.” Another of his former voters notes: “I voted for his ability to lead us to new solutions and he has turned out to be an inspirational campaigner but a less than effective president.” Those who did not vote for him put this more bluntly, with phrases like “He is all talk and no action.”
These particular negative characterizations of the President show up in the answers respondents give when asked directly in the poll whether certain adjectives describe the President. Would you use the word “effective” to describe President Obama? 21% said they would, but 31% would not. Is he decisive? 19% said he was, but 31% said he was not. And as for his experience, even after two years in office, only 14% of the public would describe President Obama as experienced, while 45% would not.
Which of these words would you use to describe Barack Obama?
| Yes | NoOpinion | No | |
|---|---|---|---|
Effective | 21% | 48% | 45% |
Decisive | 19% | 50% | 31% |
Experienced | 14% | 41% | 45% |
Honest | 32% | 39% | 29% |
When it comes to honesty – Americans are closely divided. 32% call him honest, 29% won’t.
The Approvers: But what about President Obama’s supporters? Many of those who approve of the way President Obama is handling his job agree with one of the (more mild-spoken) disapprovers, who simply wrote “I think he could do better.” More than one in ten of all those who approve say something negative about the President’s performance – or want to see more from him – or give him faint support like “We’ve had worse” or “He is doing an okay job, I think he could do better” or “Decent but underwhelming. Better than the alternatives but not great.”
One respondent wrote: “Some of the very important subjects he promised us during his election, he totally ignored,” and then mentions Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and immigration. Others said he compromises too much and needs to be stronger. Here is one example: “I get the need for compromise, it just seems the President doesn’t play a strong hand and starts from a weakened position.” And another put it this way: “He isn’t the ideal President and he isn’t precisely who he advertised himself to be in the campaign, but who is?”
Another one in ten of those who approve blame others for the problems – and not necessarily Obama. They blame their lack of strong support for the President on the previous Administration. These approvers note: “He inherited this mess from [President] Bush” and “He is doing what he can,” and “He has been handed a blown engine that is in parts and is forced to put it all back together without a manual,” and “He has more on his plate than any other president in history….”
The Americans who approve of how the President is handling his job have a nuanced approval – and they clearly want to see more. That makes their support no match for those who disapprove – who (except for those few who want him to do more) have no problem expressing their opinions in a more direct way!
