General

Obamamania officially over

Obama’s approval rating close to the bottom for any newly elected president

President Barack Obama’s daily approval rating of 53 per cent reflects the steepest decline in popularity of any first-term U.S. president in 50 years, the Telegraph reports. Gallup recorded an average daily approval rating of 53 per cent for Obama for the third quarter of the year, a sharp drop from the 62 per cent he recorded from April. His current approval rating is “hovering just above the level that would make re-election an uphill struggle” and “is close to the bottom for newly elected presidents,” the paper reports. The bad polling news comes as the president returns to the campaign trail to prevent his Democratic party from losing two governorships next month in states in which he defeated Senator John McCain in last November’s election. On the hustings, Obama delivered a plea that seemed almost as much for himself as the local candidate: “I’m here today to urge you to cast aside the cynics and the sceptics, and prove to all Americans that leaders who do what’s right and who do what’s hard will be rewarded and not rejected.”

Daily Telegraph

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