Poll: Obama approval nears record low

A new poll finds President Obama’s approval rating dropping to its lowest level in nearly two years, and near his all-time low.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released late Tuesday finds Obama with 45 percent approval and 50 percent disapproval.

{mosads}Those numbers are down from the same poll taken in June when Obama had a positive 48-47 split.

It is the lowest approval percentage for the president since November 2011, when the poll found him with a 44 percent approval, 51 percent disapproval. 

Obama’s rating matches the 45 percent approval former President George W. Bush had at the same stage of his second term. President Clinton scored a 56 percent approval rating at a similar point in his presidency, according to the Journal.

Voters gave Obama low marks on the economy, with 51 percent disapproving of his handling and 45 percent approving. 

The poll comes as the White House launches a new effort to pivot back to economic issues ahead of this fall’s crucial budget battles with Congress. Obama is slated to deliver the first in a series of economic addresses in Illinois Wednesday as he pressures Congress to pass legislation he says will help bolster the middle class.  

Voters are split on Obama’s handling of foreign policy, amid crises in Syria and Egypt and a standoff with Russia over the fate of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. Forty-six percent approve of Obama’s handling of international affairs, with the same percentage disapproving. 

Congress, though, fares much worse than the president in the poll, with only 12 percent approving of the job lawmakers are doing and 83 percent disapproving, tying a record low for the body.

Fifty-seven percent said that they would vote to replace every member of Congress, including their own representative, if able to do so, with 39 percent opposed to such a ballot measure.

Voters are also split on their preference for next year’s congressional elections, with 44 percent saying they want a GOP-controlled Congress with the same percentage preferring a Democratic-controlled Congress. 

The poll was conducted from July 17-21 and has a 3-point margin of error.