Obama Approval Rating: Obamacare Support Falling Apart, Democrats Worried
President Obama has seen his approval ratings level off from lows last year, but polls show that many Americans remain skeptical of Obamacare, and a growing number say they want it to fail.
A poll released this week by Fox News showed that swing voters believe President Barack Obama is overstepping his legal authority by selectively enforcing laws passed by Congress, including the 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
The poll found that 61 percent of independents and 90 percent of Republicans disapprove of “Barack Obama going around Congress and using executive orders.”
Only 15 percent of independents and 7 percent of conservatives responded that Obama’s efforts to bypass Congress are “the way our government is supposed to work.”
While critics take issue with the poll’s wording — assuming in the question that Obama is bypassing Congress — the poll follows a trend that as the Obama approval rating rises, Obamacare fears are on the rise.
Last week, a survey from CNN/ORC International found that Obama’s overall approval rating is to 45 percent, an increase from 41 percent in the same poll in November and December.
But at the same time, voters were increasingly losing confidence in Obama’s policies. The poll showed that the number of Americans who want his policies to succeed dropped 12 points since last year to 58 percent.
Many more Americans want programs like Obamacare to fail, the poll found.
“That’s a solid majority but nowhere near the 70% last January who wanted Obama’s presidency to be a success. One-third of all Americans, and three-quarters of all Republicans we questioned, say they hope Obama’s policies will fail,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said.
Obama seems aware that his approval rating and voter fears over Obamacare are carrying over to Congressional Democrats. On Friday, he spoke to House Democrats during a three-day retreat, trying to allay fears that the botched Obamacare rollout could hurt them in upcoming elections.
