Ben Smith
Politico
Friday, November 20, 2009
President Obama’s job approval numbers will dip below 50% for the first time today in Gallup’s daily tracking poll, according to a Gallup official.
“Gallup Daily tracking results just in. Obama will be below 50% for the first time when we update our numbers at 1:00 p.m.,” wrote Gallup.com managing news editor Lymari Morales on Twitter.
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His approval numbers have bounced down to the 50% mark several times, driven by weaker support from independents and Republicans, but hadn’t crossed it.
UPDATE: The Gallup data is now online. Gallup notes that Obama fell below 50% at almost the exact same mark in his presidency that Reagan did, and attributes the drop — most of which took place over the summer — to the economy and to the health care debate.
