NBC/WSJ Poll: Obama Job Approval, Favorable Ratings Tank to All-Time Lows

Guy Benson | October 31, 2013 10:27 AM

Keep one thing in mind as you absorb the following data: NBC/WSJ polls have traditionally produced some of the most favorable numbers for both the president and his healthcare law. So with that context in place, away we go:

(1) Obama drops to new nadirs within this polling series on both overall job approval (42/51) and personal favorability (41/45, down from 47/41 in early October):

NBC/WSJ poll with Obama approval at 42-51 is a drop of EIGHT net points from last month's poll (47-48).
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) October 30, 2013

(2) Nearly two-thirds of respondents say America is in a "state of decline." The mood is sour out there.

(3) Democrats' generic Congressional ballot has been sliced in half compared to the most recent poll. They now hold a 45-41 edge over the GOP. NBC/WSJ's survey gave Democrats a small advantage on this question in October of 2010, weeks before Barack Obama's party got demolished at the polls.

(4) Anti-incumbent sentiment is running high. Sixty-three percent of voters say they'd rather give "someone new a chance" than re-elect their member. A 43 percent plurality say that their member of Congress is part of the problem in Washington. That's pretty remarkable, historically speaking.

(5) Even after all the acrimonious gridlock and dysfunction of the last few weeks, a clear majority (58/34) say it's better for Congress and the presidency to be controlled by opposite parties.

(7) Public approval of Obamacare is underwater at (37/47). A 52 percent majority says the law needs to be fully repealed or undergo a "major overhaul." Just six percent say the law needs no changes. By a four-to-one margin, respondents said Obamacare's roll-out debacle makes them less confident in the law than more confident. Exactly half said glitchapalooza has not changed their view of the law. This detail has to be scary for the White House: