WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Barack Obama’s approval is at all-time lows, but not so much with African-Americans, who still think highly of him.
According to a new Gallup poll, President Barack Obama’s job approval rating among U.S. blacks is at 84% so far in 2014, down from previous years, but in line with the downtick among the overall American population. Obama approval is down more among younger blacks.
These data are based on Gallup Daily tracking, consisting of about 15,000 interviews with blacks from January through November 2014, and larger samples of blacks in previous years.
Blacks in the U.S. are strongly Democratic in political orientation. Gallup’s pre-election surveys and the national exit polls suggest that well over 90% of blacks voted for Obama in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, and Obama enjoys higher levels of support among blacks than among any other racial or ethnic group.
Americans overall were significantly more positive about Obama in his first year in office, 2009, than they have been in the years since — reflecting the honeymoon period that most presidents enjoy when they first take office. Black approval in 2009 was 92%, also the highest among this group of any of the Obama years so far. Obama’s overall job approval rating dropped in 2010 and 2011, and rose again in 2012 when Obama was re-elected. It stayed at about that level in 2013, before falling this year to what will be the lowest annual average of his administration. Black approval has generally followed the same pattern, dropping slightly in 2011, rising slightly in 2012 and staying about the same in 2013, and falling this year to its lowest average so far.
