President Obama’s tally in the Presidential Approval Index has declined by 14 points in the past month, according to Rasmussen’s poll of likely voters.  Obama now faces a deficit of 20 points: only 21 percent strongly approve of his performance, while 41 percent strongly disapprove. The Presidential Approval Index is based on those who say they feel strongly (either way). Overall, including those who don’t feel strongly, likely voters now disapprove of Obama’s performance by 11 points (44 percent approve; 55 percent disapprove).

One month ago, on January 22, President Obama’s tally in the President Approval Index was only 6 points in the hole (30 percent strongly approved of his performance; 36 percent strongly disapproved), and his rating among all respondents was slightly positive (50 percent approved, while 48 percent disapproved). Since then, he has given an unserious State of the Union address, followed it up with an equally unserious budget, and has weighed in on behalf of the public-sector unions in Wisconsin.