Poll: Most Americans Consider Obama Presidency a 'Failure'
A majority of Americans consider Barack Obama's presidency a "failure," according to a new poll.
Conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News, the poll found that 52 percent of respondents considered Obama's presidency to be more a failure than a success, versus 42 percent who thought the opposite.
As expected, political affiliation contributed to the overall likelihood of a respondent considering the Obama presidency to be a success or failure, noted Aaron Blake of Washington Post.
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"Those saying Obama has been a failure include one in four Democrats (25 percent), nearly three in 10 liberals (29 percent) and the vast, vast majority of conservative Republicans (92 percent)," wrote Blake.
Among registered voters the gap widened to 55 percent who considered the presidency a failure and 39 percent who considered it a success.
Blake also observed that the results of the poll question "track very closely with Obama's overall approval ratings, which stood at 51-42 disapproval among all Americans and 54-42 disapproval among registered voters."
"But it's not a perfect correlation, as 12 percent of Americans who approve of Obama say he is a failure, and 8 percent who disapprove of him still say he's been a success," wrote Blake.
"Regardless, the numbers demonstrate that opposition to Obama's presidency isn't shallow. The fact that people are willing to use the f-word as much as they are — regardless of the alternative — suggests it's not just about the man and what he's done; it's also about the results he's gotten."
The Washington Post/ABC poll comes a couple months after a Quinnipiac University survey indicated that Obama was considered the worst president since the Second World War.
In a survey of approximately 1400 individuals, Quinnipiac found that 33 percent of respondents put Obama as the worst president since 1945, with former President George W. Bush coming in second at 28 percent.
Quinnipiac had also found that 45 percent of those surveyed felt America would be better off if Republican candidate Mitt Romney had won the 2012 presidential election.
"America would be better off if Republican Mitt Romney had won the 2012 presidential election, 45 percent of voters say, while 38 percent say the country would be worse off," stated Quinnipiac.
"Missing Mitt are Republicans 84-5 percent and independent voters 47-33 percent, while Democrats say 74-10 percent that the U.S. would be worse off with Romney."
Paradoxically, the Quinnipiac poll also found respondents placing Obama third in the best president since World War II category.
Regarding the Washington Post / ABC poll, Blake cautioned about reading "too much into these numbers," believing that if "the question was 'failure or not' rather than 'failure or success,' you'd likely see fewer people choosing the f-word."
