Everyone is linking to this Gallup chart showing the partisan breakdown of Obama's approval ratings, so I will too:
In short, Obama's approval rating is up among Democrats and Independents, and down among conservatives. Among the "very conservative," it's way down. Which is rather what you'd expect. Folks who listen to Limbaugh and Hannity are not getting a sterling view of our 44th president, and as Obama does more things that aren't "very conservative," he's going to give the very conservative more reasons to dislike him. And that's okay. To think that the "very conservative" should continue to support a fairly liberal Democrat is to dismiss the sincerity with which they hold their ideas. Civility doesn't always mean cooperation. Sometimes it means respecting someone's reason and right to disagree.Less attention has accrued to this graph tracking Obama's approval by income bracket, but I think it's actually more interesting:
The changes among most brackets are within the margin of error, so I'm not going to spend much time on those. The 11-point drop among the upper middle class -- and yes, $60,000 to $90,000 is, by definition, upper, as median household income is $50,233 -- is more interesting. I'd guess you're seeing a mixture of partisan preferences and legitimate income concerns: This is the group that's not doing so badly that they expect to benefit from Obama's programs, but not doing so well that they're comfortable with the prospect of paying for Obama's programs.
In short, Obama's approval rating is up among Democrats and Independents, and down among conservatives. Among the "very conservative," it's way down. Which is rather what you'd expect. Folks who listen to Limbaugh and Hannity are not getting a sterling view of our 44th president, and as Obama does more things that aren't "very conservative," he's going to give the very conservative more reasons to dislike him. And that's okay. To think that the "very conservative" should continue to support a fairly liberal Democrat is to dismiss the sincerity with which they hold their ideas. Civility doesn't always mean cooperation. Sometimes it means respecting someone's reason and right to disagree.Less attention has accrued to this graph tracking Obama's approval by income bracket, but I think it's actually more interesting:
The changes among most brackets are within the margin of error, so I'm not going to spend much time on those. The 11-point drop among the upper middle class -- and yes, $60,000 to $90,000 is, by definition, upper, as median household income is $50,233 -- is more interesting. I'd guess you're seeing a mixture of partisan preferences and legitimate income concerns: This is the group that's not doing so badly that they expect to benefit from Obama's programs, but not doing so well that they're comfortable with the prospect of paying for Obama's programs. 
