The Gallup Poll's Frank Newport is surprised that Obama's number are as high as they are given the economy.
. . . the number of Americans who think things are overall going well in the country is extremely low -- just 16% were satisfied in the last Gallup survey -- and history dictates that number is tied to the way people feel about the economy. And Americans are not happy with the economy.
That means Obama's numbers should be extremely low, too. But they're not.
"He is overperforming," Newport said. He pointed out that both the Democrat Bill Clinton and the Republican Reagan dipped into the 30s in their approval ratings during their first terms in office. Both men, like Obama, were facing a tough economy and the low level of voter satisfaction with the overall state of the country that goes with that.
And yet: "So far, despite similarly bad economic perceptions, Obama has not fallen into the 30% range," Newport said.
Newport's got some theories, and he's promised to explore the topic further in an upcoming analysis. For now, though, he says two potential reasons stand out.
"The two major threads of theories are something about the personality of the man, and the other is the nature of coalition politics today," Newport said. "[They have] become such that he has a strong coalition of certain types of voters who are going to support him no matter what and that props up his approval rating."
