Just 29% now say the U.S. is generally heading in the right direction but the president’s Job Approval remains stable. A Month-by-Month review of his numbers shows President Obama earning a 46% or 47% Job Approval rating every month for nine consecutive months. Despite the stunning upset in a Massachusetts Senate race, the passage of a health care law, the Gulf Oil Spill, economic concerns and other issues, attitudes about the president have remained broadly unchanged.
The same cannot be said, however, for the president’s political party. The number of people who identify themselves as Democrats has fallen by seven percentage points since Obama took office. Currently, 35.0% say they’re Democrats and 33.8% identify with the GOP. That gap between the parties is the smallest measured in five years. In the summer of 2008, the Democrats enjoyed a double-digit advantage.
A new book by Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen addresses the broader discontent roiling the political landscape this year. MAD AS HELL: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System , published by Harper-Collins, will be released September 14. It can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and other outlets.
Thirty-eight percent (38%) of voters say that most judges are too liberal while 18% say too conservative.
On the economic front, the Rasmussen Employment Index showed little change in August. Nineteen percent (19%) of workers say their firms are hiring while 25% report layoffs.
That would be most of the RATs....BUT NOT ALL OF THEM!