Currently, 45% of New Hampshire adults say they approve of the job Obama is doing as president, 50% disapprove, and 6% are neutral. While not as low as the job approval ratings of George W. Bush at this point in his second term (39% approve, 54% disapprove), these numbers may act to drag Democratic candidates down in the November midterm elections. 2014 likely voters disapprove of the President’s job performance by a 52%-45% margin.
Obama continues to have high approval ratings among Democrats (83%), but few Independents (29%) and Republicans (7%) approve of the job the President is doing.
Obama’s personal favorability rating has rebounded after a drop in April. Obama is currently viewed favorably by 48% of New Hampshire adults, 46% have an unfavorable opinion of him, and 6% are neutral or don’t know enough about him to say. Obama’s net favorability rating, the percentage having a favorable opinion minus the percentage having an unfavorable opinion, is +2% which is up from -10% in April. Obama continues to be very popular among Democrats (net favorability rating of +78%), but is unpopular among Independents (-26% net), and very unpopular among Republicans (-76% net). 2014 likely voters are divided -- 47% have a favorable opinion of Obama and 48% have an unfavorable opinion.
Obama’s signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act, remains unpopular with Granite Staters. In the most recent Granite State Poll, only 39% of New Hampshire adults favor the legislation, 51% oppose it, and 10% are neutral or don’t know enough about it to say.
The Affordable Care Act remains popular among Democrats (70% favor), but remains very unpopular among both Independents (28%) and Republicans (6%). 2014 likely voters oppose the health care act by a 51%-41% margin.
Granite Staters continue to disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy – 43% of New Hampshire adults approve of how Obama is handling the economy, 52% disapprove, and 5% are neutral. As with other approval measures, there is a considerable partisan gap -- most Democrats (80%) approve of Obama’s handling of the economy, but only 26% of independents and 9% of Republicans approve.ture legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act, remains unpopular with Granite Staters. In the most recent Granite State Poll, only 39% of New Hampshire adults favor the legislation, 51% oppose it, and 10% are neutral or don’t know enough about it to say.
New Hampshire residents remain pessimistic about the direction the country is headed. Currently, only 35% of New Hampshire adults think things in this country are generally going in the right direction, 59% think things are seriously off on the wrong track, and 6% are unsure. This number has remain stable since January. Democrats remain the most optimistic -- 60% believe the U.S. is headed in the right direction, but just 24% of Independents and 11% of Republicans share this view.
Granite State Poll Methodology
These findings are based on the latest WMUR Granite State Poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. Six hundred and sixty-nine (669) randomly selected New Hampshire adults were interviewed by landline and cellular telephone between June 19 and July 1, 2014. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3.8 percent.
The data have been weighted to adjust for numbers of adults and telephone lines within households, respondent sex, age, and region of the state. In addition to potential sampling error, all surveys have other potential sources of non-sampling error including question order effects, question wording effects, and non-response