The current week is starting off no better for Obama than the previous one. His job approval score in Gallup Poll Daily tracking, conducted July 25-27, is 54%; this is his lowest individual reading to date. Thirty-seven percent of Americans currently disapprove of the job he is doing and 9% have no opinion.
While Obama's recent commentary on the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Gates has created a political firestorm, it appears that Obama's dip in public support began a few days prior to the July 22 press conference in which he spoke out on the matter. The press conference focused on healthcare, but Obama's assertion that Cambridge police acted "stupidly" in the Gates case, in answer to a question about the matter, has received considerable media attention.
The three-day average for Sunday through Wednesday, July 19-21, just prior to the press conference, was 57%, already down from readings over most of the other three-day periods in July. His approval was 56% using data from July 23-25, the first three-day period after the press conference -- not a major shift, and in the latest three-day average is 54%.
His job approval today is at 53%
Support Down Among Whites and Hispanics
In terms of the slide from 59% approval for the week of July 13-19 to 56% from July 20-26, Obama saw a seven-point drop in support among Hispanics and a four-point drop among whites, but no decline among blacks.
The drop in support among Hispanics is somewhat curious given that close to 42% of Hispanics are without health insurance and therefore might be expected to welcome a healthcare reform initiative. Also, the drop in approval among Hispanics comes the week after the confirmation hearings of Hispanic Judge Sonia Sotomayor, something one might predict would earn Obama credit among Hispanic Americans.
See it all here at Gallup
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