Obama Gets Six-Point Bounce In Gallup Polling
Updated at 1:12 p.m.
Fifty-two percent of Americans approve of the job President Obama is doing, according to the first Gallup Daily tracking poll conducted entirely after Obama announced the killing of Osama bin Laden Sunday night.
Obama's approval rating equals his 52-week high; he was last as high as 52 percent in polling conducted nearly a year ago, in mid-May 2010. Forty percent of Americans disapprove of the job Obama is doing.
(MORE: Obama also up in new Quinnipiac Poll)
In the final Gallup Daily tracking poll conducted entirely before the killing of bin Laden, Obama's approval rating stood at 46 percent, with 45 percent disapproval.
Obama is up 12 points among Republicans; 21 percent now approve of his job performance. And he has increased his approval rating among independents from 40 percent to 49 percent. But among Democrats, he is stagnant at 81 percent approval.
While this is the first poll conducted entirely since Obama announced that the U.S. military had killed bin Laden, it does not necessarily represent the peak of his "bounce"; nor does the magnitude of the "bounce" indicate if or when Obama will return to his approval ratings prior to this week. The poll does suggest, however, that Obama is unlikely to enjoy the bumps of 30 points or more that George W. Bush received after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks or George H.W. Bush received after the start of Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
(HISTORY: Presidential honeymoons shortlived after foreign policy traumas, triumphs)
A better analog could be the mini-bounce that the younger Bush received after the capture of Saddam Hussein in Dec. 2003. Bush's approval rating stood at 55 percent the week prior to Hussein's capture, but it rose as high as 63 percent soon after, according to Gallup's Presidential Approval Center. Less than two months later, Bush's approval was under 50 percent -- though he went on to win re-election.
The Gallup tracking poll was conducted Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Gallup surveyed 1,558 adults, for a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percent.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus