The Obama administration is definitely in a funk. Polls of all stripes have shown a strong decline in his approval ratings. …
Many analysts argue that Obama’s decline results exclusively from the disastrous kick-off of the most visible aspect of his flagship Affordable Care Act: the state insurance exchanges (Gallup, CNN, Time). …
That said, an equally plausible argument is that Obama’s fall in the numbers is nothing more than what should be expected. Indeed, both academic research and a simple look at past polls show that approval ratings decline over the course of an administration irrespective of the president (Mueller). Put simply, such decay is the natural order of things: some voters become disillusioned as abstract concepts become operationalized into concrete policy, turning their Prince Charming into a frog. CONT.
Clifford Young, Ipsos Public Affairs