OBAMA APPROVAL
Job approval ratings for President Barack Obama have dipped to the lowest levels of his administration.
Poll (conducted) Approve Disapprove Undecided
Reuters/Ipsos (Nov. 22-26) 38% 56% 6%
Economist/YouGov (Nov. 23-25) 37% 58% 5%
Gallup (Nov. 24-26) 44% 51% 4%
Rasmussen (Nov. 24-26) 45% 54% 1%
Many Democrats in Congress worried about the party’s re-election prospects are distancing themselves from President Barack Obama after the disastrous rollout of his health care overhaul.
At issue, said several Obama allies, is a loss of trust in the president after only 106,000 people — instead of an anticipated half million — were able to buy insurance coverage the first month of the HealthCare.gov website, which was crippled by technical glitches. In addition, some 4.2 million Americans received notices from insurers that policies Obama had promised they could keep were being canceled.
The debacle has marked a stunningly swift downturn in the fortunes of the Democrats. Just six weeks ago, the party had emerged at the top of its game from a government shutdown that a majority of Americans blamed on the Republicans.
The political stakes are huge ahead of congressional elections next year. Already, Republicans are launching a drive to link virtually every congressional Democrat to the troubles of the 3-year-old health law, Obama’s most significant domestic policy initiative. In the House, they are seeking to deny Democrats the 17-seat gain they would need to win back the majority. In the Senate, the Republicans aim to gain the six seats they need to take control of that chamber.
“Folks are now, I think in talking to members, more cautious with regard to dealing with the president,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the White House’s biggest defender on the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee, which has waged a war against the Obama administration on health care and other issues.
Cummings said he still thinks Obama is operating with integrity, but he noted that not all his Democratic colleagues agree.
Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., like Cummings, a prominent member of the Congressional Black Caucus who personally likes Obama, struggled to describe the state of play between congressional Democrats and the president.
“I am trying to think if you can call it a relationship at this point,” he said.
Clay said the administration is now obligated to “fix it, fix all of it” after Obama apologized this month for both the insurance website problems and his earlier promises that people could keep their old polices. Otherwise, he said, “a wide brush will be used to paint us all as incompetent and ineffective.”
The political body language tells the story of the strain. Thirty-nine House Democrats in Obama’s party defied the president’s veto threat and voted for a Republican-sponsored bill to permit the sale of individual health coverage that falls short of requirements in the law.
In the Senate, several Democrats from battleground states have signed onto legislation to further weaken the health care law, sponsored by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. Landrieu herself skipped an event with Obama earlier this month when he appeared at the Port of New Orleans.
Repairing the relationship between Obama and his allies may be as complex as fixing the website and health care law. Much rests on rebuilding trust with the public, a solid majority of which now opposes the law, according to multiple polls. Both parties will be watching on Saturday, when November ends, to see whether the vast majority of those who try to sign up for policies on the website will succeed, as Obama has promised.
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