President Obama Approval at New Low; Only 31 Percent Now Approve Obamacare
As the Obama administration continues efforts to restore Americans' faith in the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's job approval has hit a new low, according to a CBS News poll.
Obama's approval rating now lies at 37 percent, down from 46 percent in October, the poll showed. The Affordable Care Act suffered an even greater drop, down 12 percent from last month to 31 percent approval in November. Of all the respondents to the poll, 61 percent said they disapprove of Obamacare, with 46 percent disapproving strongly.
Since the healthcare.gov website was unveiled at the start of October, several glitches and technical problems were reported that prevented some Americans from signing up. And although the president has promised that the website would be fixed by the end of November, it remains to be seen whether that deadline will be met.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Last week, Obama also admitted that the rollout for the ACA was "fumbled," and announced changes to the law after a growing number of people complained that they had been informed they will be losing their insurance plans.
"The key point is that it allows us to be able to say to the folks who receive these notices, look, you know, I, the president of the United States, and the insurance – the insurance model of the Affordable Care Act – is not going to be getting in the way of you shopping in the individual market that you used to have," the president explained. He admitted that the way he previously explained the law – "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan" – ended up "not being accurate."
According to the CBS poll, which was conducted Nov. 15-18 among 1,010 U.S. adults and has a sample error of plus/minus three percentage points, more than two-thirds of independents now disapprove of the law, a sentiment shared by 88 percent of Republican respondents. And while most Democrats continue to support the law, that approval is down from 74 percent in October to 58 percent today.
Obama's low approval rating is still slightly higher than the 35 percent approval former President George W. Bush received at the same point of his presidency in November 2005, but lower than Bill Clinton's 58 percent and Ronal Reagan's 65 percent approval.
The poll noted in its conclusion that Americans' faith in both major political parties also continues eroding, with only 26 percent approving of the job Democrats are doing in Congress, and 21 percent approving of how congressional Republicans are doing.
