Obama Sees New Lows in Job Approval

Weekly average of 44% and three-day average of 42% are lowest yet

The drop in Obama's weekly average was driven by particularly low ratings near the end of the week, with record-low three-day rolling averages of 42% for Aug. 12-14 and Aug. 13-15 polling.

Prior to this weekend, Obama's three-day low had been 44%. Additionally, Obama's disapproval rating reached 50% for the first time in the Aug. 13-15 average.

The president visited Florida's Gulf Coast over the weekend as part of a vacation with his family, while his comments about the construction of a mosque near ground zero in New York City became a much-debated topic in the news media and on the Internet. As is usually the case, the impact of these or other news events on the president's approval ratings is difficult to disentangle.

The overall pattern of Obama's job approval ratings within partisan groups is fairly stable. The 68-point difference between Democrats' and Republicans' approval ratings for Aug. 9-15 is in line with what has been the case for many weeks, while his 39% approval among independents is down slightly from the past several weeks. (Continues here)