Cafferty File

What's behind collapse of Obama's approval ratings?

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

President Obama's approval ratings are on the move - but not in the direction he'd like.
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With double-digit unemployment, rising deficits and spending, an unclear fate for health care reform and his decision to send more troops to Afghanistan...

A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll shows only 48 percent of Americans approve of how Mr. Obama is handling his job... 50 percent disapprove.

This is a pretty significant drop in approval from earlier in his term. Back in July - the president got a 56 percent approval rating; in February, it was at 67 percent.

And President Obama fares even worse in the Gallup Daily Tracking poll - which puts him at 47 percent; a new low in that poll, which includes a measly 14 percent approval rating among Republicans.

Gallup points out that while most Democrats still approve of the president - he's seen big drops in support among both Republicans and independents.

These new numbers are apparently getting under the White House's skin.

Spokesman Robert Gibbs mocked the reliability of the Gallup Daily Tracking poll - saying he was sure "a six-year-old with a crayon could do something not unlike that."

Gibbs says he doesn't pay any attention to the "meaninglessness of it." Wanna bet?

Here’s my question to you: What's behind the collapse of President Obama's approval ratings?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

Chris from Philadelphia writes:
Obama was the savior. He was going to ride in from Illinois and save the country in record time. In the world of instant gratification, he hasn't worked fast enough. Therefore, he hasn't lived up to the crazy expectations. Around election time, as long as the economy isn't still falling and people are back to work, he'll be fine.

William writes:
It’s easy: the American people, in large, don’t agree with his agenda. He ran as a centrist and governs from the far left. This is America; we don’t like socialism. What’s so hard to figure out?

Frank writes:
President Obama's so called transparency in government is anything but; his blatant arrogance and pushing the miserable health care agenda are also getting him nowhere. Continuing like this will result in a one term president.

Joe from Corvallis, Oregon writes:
People expect too much. Rome wasn't built in a day, and this nation's problems took years to develop. Obama is taking these issues head-on, and people expect him to just make them disappear instantaneously. That's illogical, especially with the GOP doing all they can to tamper with his agenda. Just give the man some time, let the Dems do what they have to do, and his approval ratings will be back in the 60 or 70 percent range again.

Ed from New York writes:
Americans see the traditional America slipping away with our president trying to replace it with a culture of government dependency as he travels the world, bowing to world leaders and apologizing for America. He doesn't seem to understand how we became the strongest, most successful democracy in the world and he seems not only ready, but anxious to give it all up for a new and ominous direction.

Iris writes:
The reason behind the president's drop in the polls is due to the number of gullible people who fall for all the ridiculous lies spewed by whack jobs like Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, and John Boehner.