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Obama approval falls below 50 percent in key demographic groups
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
09/01/09 7:44 AM EDT
Gallup has released its latest breakdown of the president's weekly job approval rating, and for the first time, Barack Obama's approval rating has fallen below 50 percent among some formerly-solid demographic groups.
Among men, Obama is now at 47 percent, falling from 53 percent four weeks ago. (Among women, Obama still has a narrow majority of support, at 53 percent, down from 59 percent a month ago.)
Among people who have a college degree, Obama is at 47 percent, down from 55 percent four weeks ago. Obama is also at 47 percent among people who have some college, down from 54 percent last month. The only educational group among whom Obama is still doing pretty well is people who have a college degree and have gone on to do graduate work; he's at 57 percent with them, although that's down from 62 percent four weeks ago.
Then there are the age groups. Obama is in danger of falling below 50 percent among all groups over the age of 30. He's at 51 percent with people age 30-49; 50 percent with people age 50-64; and 42 percent with people age 65 and older. Only with the 18-29 population does his support remain strong, at 62 percent (although that is down from 67 percent four weeks ago.)
Finally, Obama has fallen below 50 percent with people who make between $60,000 and $90,000 a year; he's at 45 percent, down from 53 percent four weeks ago. He is at 46 percent with people who make more than $90,000 a year, down from 53 percent four weeks ago. He's at 52 percent among people who make between $24,000 and $60,000 a year. Only among those who make less than $24,000 annually does his support remain strong, at 61 percent -- nearly unchanged from a month ago.
Of course, Obama was already under 50 percent among other groups: political independents, southerners, whites. But the new numbers show more slippage virtually across the board.
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