Just 44 percent of Americans approve of the agreement between Democrats and Republicans to “raise the federal government’s debt ceiling through the year 2013 and make major cuts in government spending over the next few years,” while 52 percent disapprove.You can't, after all, solve a debt problem by piling on more debt. And from the NY Daily News via memeorandum: Pols all ‘look like idiots’ during debt crisis, but President Obama takes biggest hit of them all
Republicans and independents are driving this disapproval. Democrats approve of the agreement, 63 percent to 32 percent. But only 35 percent of Republicans and independents approve of the agreement. More than three-in-five independents disapprove.
Specific elements of the agreement are more popular than the agreement overall, however, suggesting the tumultuous and often times messy process had a negative impact on Americans and their perception of Washington. One measure of that: the percentage of Americans who approve of the way Congress is handling its job has shrunk to an abysmal 14 percent, easily the lowest measure in five years of CNN polling.
...even Obama loyalists on Capitol Hill privately say he didn't exactly burnish his leadership credentials in this process. "At the end of the day, voters expect their President to bring people together," one of them said. "He hasn't been able to on this."Or anything else I might add. His form of bipartisanship is quite unilateral.
UPDATE: From Gallup: Poll: Obama weekly approval hits new low, but liberal support stays high
