Rating Obama on the Issues

The ABC News/Washington Post Poll released it's latest yesterday on President Obama's performance. Despite a controversial health care bill, a double-digit unemployment rate, a soaring deficit, and criticism for the amount of time it is taking to formulate a plan for Afghanistan, the President's overall approval rating remains at 56%.

Here is the breakdown on the approval rating in specific areas:

Percent who “approve” of his job performance:

“overall” 56%
“international affairs” 60%
“terrorism” 53%
“the economy” 51%
“health care” 47%
“Afghanistan” 46%
“the budget deficit” 42%

The specific ratings indicate that Americans are clearly distinguishing between different aspects of Obama's performance. However, it appears that on the more general items Obama gets better grades than on the specifics. For example, on "international affairs" he gets a 60% approval rating while on "Afghanistan" he gets a 46%.

Similarly, on the "economy" he receives a 51% rating, but on the "budget deficit" he gets a 42%.

This raises an interesting question: Is the higher 56% overall rating derived more from his personal "likability," or more from how Americans think he is performing on specific issues?