President Obama’s approval rating has dipped below 40 percent with less than a week to go before the midterm elections, with a majority of Americans, 51 percent, disapproving of the way he’s handled his job.
{mosads}Just 39 percent of respondents in a new poll from CBS News said they approved of Obama, 2 percentage points above his all-time low in the survey. The president’s approval is down 3 points from earlier this month, and is 6 points lower than it was ahead of the 2010 midterms, when Democrats lost their majority in the House.
But Obama still is seen slightly more favorably than his predecessor, President George W. Bush, at a similar point in his presidency. In October 2006, 34 percent of respondents approved of Bush, while some 58 percent disapproved. Days after the survey was released, Democrats seized control of the House and Senate.
Most Americans approve of how Obama is handling the situation dominating headlines a week before the election: Ebola. Some 47 percent of respondents said they approve of his response, while 41 percent disapprove.
Views of the Ebola response stand in contrast to how voters perceive Obama on a slew of other critical issues. A majority disapproves of the president’s handling of the economy, while 38 percent think he’s doing a good job confronting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
The president’s approval continues to outpace that of Congress, however. Just 14 percent of Americans approve of it, and more than three-quarters are dissatisfied with congressional lawmakers.
But Obama looms large over midterm voters.
Nearly 6 in 10 Republicans say their vote next week will be registered against the president. Just 43 percent of Democrats say their vote is intended as a signal of support for Obama, an indication of waning enthusiasm. That’s manifested as a 47 percent to 40 percent lead for Republicans on the generic congressional ballot.