Free Republic

This week, America’s foreign policy is dominating the headlines, but it’s the White House’s second-term domestic agenda that’s the focus of our Parade cover story. On Monday, June 23, the President and Mrs. Obama will host a Working Families summit in Washington, D.C. to discuss the need for affordable childcare and paid family leave, raising minimum wage, and achieving equal pay for all. In an interview conducted by Parade Editor-in-Chief Maggie Murphy and contributing writer Lynn Sherr on May 20, the Obamas opened up about their personal connection to these issues and what they hope to accomplish during their remaining...

It has been a rough week for President Barack Obama. The prospect of the United States being dragged back into Iraq, a war the president thought he had ended, has spurred criticism on both sides and presents yet another foreign-policy complication that threatens his presidency. Foreign hotspots – from Iraq to Syria to Ukraine — have tested Mr. Obama and taken a toll on his standing. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.pdf) this week found him with the lowest foreign policy approval of his presidency — just 37 percent. His approval is down from 52 percent in Dec. 2012 right...

President Barack Obama's approval rating on handling issues of immigration has fallen to its lowest level since 2010, amid diminished prospects for comprehensive reform legislation and a burgeoning humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. Just 31% of Americans approve of the job Obama's doing on immigration, according to a new poll from Gallup released on Friday. Meanwhile, disapproval ratings on the issue have soared to 65%. Together, it represents an 18-point swing from 10 months ago, a short while after the Senate had passed immigration-reform legislation. Obama's approval rating has fallen among all parties. At 90%, Republicans give him their...

Americans' approval falls eight percentage points since August by Justin McCarthy WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' approval of President Barack Obama's handling of immigration has dropped to 31%, one of the lowest readings since 2010, when Gallup began polling on his handling of the issue. Meanwhile, two in three Americans (65%) disapprove of his handling of immigration. These data are from a June 5-8 Gallup poll. Disapproval of the president's handling of immigration has climbed 10 points since August 2013, when more than half of Americans (55%) disapproved.

Right on the heels of Allahpundit’s post from last evening comes a poll — a pair of polls, actually — from Reuters that may suggest President Obama’s numbers haven’t quite bottomed out yet. First, on overall approval, O’s at (38/55) with a (-19) intensity gap — via Phil Kerpen: Reuters/Ipsos: Obama Approve/Disapprove 37.5/55.1 Strongly 15.6/35.0 pic.twitter.com/vXi07of5T2— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) June 9, 2014 That’s from their rolling presidential approval tracker, which has pegged Obama’s job approval deep underwater for months. In that sense, AP’s thesis from yesterday remains intact: The president’s ratings haven’t suffered that badly from the VA mess...

See Hot Air analysis here: http://hotair.com/archives/2014/06/10/reuters-poll-obama-approval-at-3855-two-thirds-worry-about-dangerous-detainee-swap-precedent/ Wow -- Can't wait for Wolf Blitzer to interrupt the news to disclose these devastating poll numbers for Obama - you know, like he did when GWB hit 38% approval. Yeah .. good times.

The Republican Party is at its strongest point in two decades heading into midterm elections, according to a new Pew Research-USA Today poll, the latest daunting sign for Democrats ahead of campaign season. The GOP is at an even stronger point than in previous "wave" elections in 1994 and 2010 and looks poised to make major gains — and possibly take control of the U.S. Senate. According to the poll, out Monday, Republicans have a 47-43 lead on the generic congressional ballot. That's a 10-point swing from October, when Democrats, boosted by GOP blame for the federal government shutdown, held...

The latest USA Today/Pew survey shows Obamacare polling as poorly as it ever has: Views of ACA Little Changed. As other recent national polls have shown, including the April health care tracking survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the recent surge in signups for the new health care exchanges has had little impact on public opinion about the Affordable Care Act. In fact, the share disapproving of the law (55%) is as high as it ever has been in the four-year history of the law. Just 41% approve of the 2010 health care law.

Pollster John Zogby reports in our weekly White House report card that President Obama is no longer seen as an agent of change, but the boss of an oppressive national security state. "Not only did the president not get a triumph from his Asia trip, but he hit a wall of bad news. First quarter economic growth is worse than expected, just 0.1 percent. "Next, the administration admits that its Middle East efforts is on life support. And the Europeans haven't jumped on board with another round of sanctions against Russia. “Mr. Obama is no longer seen as the transformational...

I’ve been at the White House when it has been taking a pounding from all sides. The inner circle gets smaller, and the rest of the staff tries to either put on a brave face or acknowledge the problems and quietly point fingers. Democratic insiders tell me the Obama inner circle now only consists of the president, Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and Chief of Staff Denis McDonough — and not everyone agrees on McDonough. Whether or not the president takes any criticism to heart and tries to change course seems unlikely based on what we have observed so far. Every...

Excellent editorial in today's Washington Examiner about presidential lying. Specifically, why so many Americans - 61% according to a Fox News poll - think that the president lies "most of the time" and "some of the time." It comes as no surprise today that Obama's defenders are sparing no invective for Fox News in the wake of that survey. But it was the president, not Fox News, who repeatedly and knowingly misled the American people with two infamous Obamacare lies: “You can keep your health insurance if you like it. Period. You can keep your doctor. Period.” For better or...

A new Fox News poll found that a majority of voters now feel that President Obama lies to the country on important matters. The poll, released on April 16, found that 37% feel that Obama lies “most of the time,” while an additional 27% feel he lies “some of the time.” Twenty percent said they feel he lies “now and then,” and a sparse 15% said he “never” lies.

April 18, 2014, 09:45 am Fox poll: Most think Obama lies to the nation By Justin Sink Roughly six in 10 voters believe President Obama occasionally lies to the nation about important matters, according to a Fox News poll released this week. According to the survey, 37 percent of respondents believe the president lies "most of the time," while just under a quarter think Obama is deceitful "some of the time." Two out of every 10 voters say the president fibs "only now and then" and 15 percent say the president is always truthful. Of those who say the president...

This week brought news of Obamacare securing 7.1 million enrollees and the expected jubilation from the White House. “This law is doing what’s it’s supposed to do,” a buoyant Obama said in late-afternoon remarks in the White House Rose Garden. The veracity of these numbers is questionable, as many have pointed out. But predictably, the media is doing its best to paint a rosy picture of the success of Obamacare, sharing all of the “good news” of the enrollment numbers. ABC News and the Washington Post piled on with a poll of their own, demonstrating how public opinion has shifted in...

Democrats who still think that defending ObamaCare makes for a great midterm strategy will be shocked, shocked by the latest AP-Gfk survey results. The rest of us … not so much. Support for the law dropped to a record low in this polling series, and even the slight improvement in the perception of its implementation leaves it far below the Democratic base numbers:

Negative views of President Obama have hit a new high, according to a poll. The AP-GfK poll shows 59 percent of Americans now disapprove of Obama -- a point higher than the previous high set in December. Obama's approval rating stands at 41 percent. That's the second-lowest figure the poll has ever found.

Nearly six in 10 people disapprove of President Obama's job performance in a new poll by the Associated Press, the highest rating recorded by the newswire.

Party preferences more polarized by race and ethnicity under Obama. PRINCETON, NJ -- Whites and nonwhites have long shown differing political party preferences, with nonwhites widely favoring the Democratic Party and whites typically favoring the Republican Party by at least a small margin. In recent years, however, the margins in favor of the Republican Party among whites have been some of the largest.

Explore...Obama's approval ratings...

Maybe it is the photos of him posing shirtless on horseback, or his military push into Ukraine, but Americans in a new poll believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is a much stronger leader than President Obama. A YouGov/Economist survey of 1,000 adults interviewed March 8-10 found that 78 percent view Putin as somewhat to very strong leader. Just 45 percent see Obama the same way. Worse, more Americans, 55 percent, view Obama as a weak leader. The poll comes as the president is struggling with a response to Putin's push into Ukraine and expectations that Crimea will break off and...