Gallup ‘s semiannual assessment of President Obama’s approval ratings in all 50 states finds a strong correlation between voters’ opinion of his job performance and the battleground map as he faces re-election.
A majority of voters (that is, 50 percent or more) in 13 states plus the District of Columbia approve of the president’s performance, a group that accounts for 185 of the 270 electoral votes he needs to secure a second term.
By contrast, a majority of voters in 24 states say they disapprove of his performance, a group that, while larger in number, has only slightly more electoral clout, 188 electoral votes.
In the middle are 13 states where the president’s net job rating ranges from slightly positive to slightly negative. Most but not all of those states are in the cohort viewed by both sides as the battlegrounds. The midrange states are Maine, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada and Oregon.
Why does Obama’s job rating matter? Gallup’s Jeffrey M. Jones points out that “voters’ evaluations of how Obama has performed as president will arguably be the most important factor in determining their vote.” Voter turnout and views of his challenger, Mitt Romney, are secondary.
Of the most talked-about battlegrounds, Gallup’s data would indicate Obama’s biggest challenges then lie in Colorado and New Hampshire; his approval rating in both stands at 43 percent. But his job rating in each has climbed from the 2011 yearly average, from 39 percent in New Hampshire and 40 percent in Colorado.
Of the states John McCain carried in 2008, Obama has the strongest job rating in Georgia (45 percent approval) and Mississippi (44 percent). But neither is being strongly contested — largely because racial polarization in Obama’s job approval in those two states sets a firm ceiling on his vote. Also not being contested is Indiana, which Obama won in 2008, but where his job rating is just 38 percent.
Once again, voters in Obama’s home state of Hawaii give him the best marks (63 percent approval), followed by Rhode Island (58 percent) and Vermont (56 percent). He averaged a 52 percent approval rating in the biggest electoral prize, California, from January through June.
At the bottom are Utah (68 percent disapproval), Wyoming (65 percent), and a tie between West Virginia and Idaho (61 percent).
For the first half of 2012, Obama averaged 46 percent job approval nationally, with 46 percent disapproving. His net job approval rating improved from 2011 in 33 states and the District of Columbia, declining in 17.
(c)2012 the Los Angeles Times
Distributed by MCT Information Services
The poll appears to have sampled ‘all adults’ rather than ‘registered voters’ or, most critically, ‘likely voters’. That typically benefits Democrats, although I have no idea if it did in this case.
The second sentence says it’s of voters.
The LA Times’s Memoli wrote “voters” but Gallup didn’t use the term in the actual study linked to at the top of the article. In fact, it said:
So, no, not “voters”. Not necessarily even citizens.
Also, possibly significantly:
I want to see what the breakdown is Most of these are slanted to favor Liberals
This jobs number is another indication of Obama’s failed policies. He’s thinks his policies have worked, as he said in a speech the other day. The current REAL unemployment figure is at least 15%. At this time in Reagan’s 1st term, after the recession he dug us out of, 300,000 to 400,000 jobs were being created every month. Pres. Obama is a liar, a failure and he is economically illiterate.
You can make up phony “REAL unemployment” numbers all you want, but this is the standard we go by. It’s ridiculous to create a new standard for Obama and then compare that to the old and easier standard of previous Presidents. Seems a bit dishonest to me. Maybe you should watch who you call the liar.
“Obama’s failed policies”
*facepalm*
These unemployment numbers are the result of decades of presidential, congressional, and corporate decisions. The idea that Obama alone is to blame for the lack of jobs in America today is wildly inaccurate and incredibly foolish.
Not to mention the fact that Obama’s policies have saved countless jobs by halting the recession and through job-creation.