Obama poll numbers plunge ahead of job speech

Washington: President Barack Obama’s poll numbers crashed to new lows ahead of his crucial speech Thursday aimed at tackling zero US job growth and reviving his own political fortunes. Opinion polls revealed a mood of deep pessimism in the American electorate, amid high unemployment and economic anxiety, and suggested an unpredictable run-up to the 2012 election with Republicans stung by even higher unpopularity. [caption id=“attachment_77863” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Reuters”]  [/caption] Pollster Peter Hart, who conducted a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, warned that if the president’s political fortunes did not turn around soon “Obama is no longer favorite to win reelection.” The Journal poll put Obama’s overall approval rating after a summer of political bloodletting at just 44 percent, with only 37 percent of those asked satisfied with his management of the economy. In a sign some voters have already written him off, 54 percent believed that Obama faced a long-term setback from which he was unlikely to recover. A Washington Post/ABC News poll put Obama’s disapproval rating at 53 percent, and 77 percent said the country was on the wrong track. Thirty-four per cent said Obama’s economic policies had done more harm than good. A Politico/George Washington University battleground poll meanwhile found 72 percent of voters thought the country was heading strongly or somewhat in the wrong direction in a blunt warning sign for incumbent politicians. The miserable polling data followed a grim August for Obama in which Standard and Poor’s downgraded Washington’s top debt rating and the economy created no net jobs at a time of crushing 9.1 percent unemployment.   AFP