According to a new CNN/ORC poll, President Obama has a 52 percent approval rating, up from January when he received a 50 percent approval rating. Until now, that had been the highest approval rating he’d gotten since he took office.
The CNN/ORC poll is the third consecutive poll in which he’d gotten approval from a majority of American citizens, and the fourth that had shown an increase in his popularity. “The Hill” reports that the poll’s results are the best Obama has received since2012. In June, Fox News conducted a poll; 51 percent of the respondents approved of the President’s performance, while 46 percent disapproved. The last time the President had received such numbers was in October 2012, a month before his re-election.
Obama’s 52 percent approval rating is the highest for a recent president at this stage in their second term. Both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton had had approval ratings below 50 percent during the spring or summer of their last year in office, while George Bush had had an approval rating of 38 percent during the summer of 2008.
Obama has agreed to help Hillary Clinton with her Presidential campaign, and he is probably hoping that his popularity will benefit her. “The Huffington Post” has been tracking her approval ratings, and she currently has an approval rating of 38.9 percent. The historian Mike Purdy told the “New York Daily News,” “President Obama’s strong approval ratings, at this point in his presidency, can only help Hillary Clinton’s quest for the White House. Voters who generally believe that the president is doing a good job will be less inclined to vote for a change in the party occupying the White House.”
Among the people who view Obama favorably, 80 percent plan to vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump, and 70 percent have favorable opinions of her.
Purdy went on to explain,” Voters will likely view a vote for Clinton as a vote for the continued stability of the Obama administration versus the unpredictability of a potential Trump administration,” Purdy said. “Of course, the election is still four-plus months away and in politics that represents an eternity, where there can be many disruptive events that may occur that could change the dynamics of the race.”
Other recent polls do indeed show Clinton beating Trump in the election.