Obama's Approval Drops 8 Points In A Month, 17 Points Among Those Under 30

The laundry list of scandals the Obama administration is facing – from Benghazi to the IRS targeting conservatives, from the NSA scandal to the DoJ spying on reporters – appears to be having a poll on President Obama’s job ratings.

Over the last month, the President has seen a remarkable 8-point plunge in this CNN poll which includes a 17-point drop in approval among those under 30:

The president’s approval rating stands at 45%, down from 53% in mid-May. And 54% say they disapprove of how Obama’s handling his job, up nine points from last month. It’s the first time in CNN polling since November 2011 that a majority of Americans have had a negative view of the president.

“The drop in Obama’s support is fueled by a dramatic 17-point decline over the past month among people under 30, who, along with black Americans, had been the most loyal part of the Obama coalition,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. …

“It is clear that revelations about NSA surveillance programs have damaged Obama’s standing with the public, although older controversies like the IRS matter may have begun to take their toll as well,” adds Holland.

Six in 10 disapprove of how Obama is handling government surveillance of U.S. citizens, which is higher than the 52% who disapproved of George W. Bush on the same issue in 2006, when government surveillance was also in the headlines. …

The number of Americans who think he is honest has dropped nine points over the past month, to 49%.

Having worse approval numbers than the Bush/Cheney administration had on domestic spying is really an accomplishment.

It just goes to show how mistaken Republicans are to give President Obama a pass on the NSA spying. Yes, the spying has its roots in a Republican administration. Yes, Republicans defended the program at the time. But we’ve seen some serious mission creep under Obama, and it’s time to admit that opening the door to this sort of government spying on citizens was a mistake.

Doing so would be politically advantageous – the key for Republicans to win over the next important generation of American voters is to embrace libertarianism – but it would also be the right thing.