Obama's tanking approval rate pulls down Democrats, poll finds

Dec. 4, 2013: Obama speaks about the new health care law during a White House Youth Summit, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. (AP)

President Obama’s approval rate is taking a plunge and he is pulling Democratic lawmakers down with him, a new Quinnipiac University national poll finds.

The president’s job approval score is currently at 38 percent according to the poll released Tuesday, down from 39 percent in a Nov. 12 poll. The president’s approval among young voters ages 18-29 has dropped to 41 percent and he is hovering at 50 percent among Hispanic voters. He is in single digits with Republicans at 6 percent, 30 percent with independents and 70 percent with Democrats.

“A rousing chorus of Bah! Humbug! for President Barack Obama as American voters head into the holidays with little charitable to say about the president,” Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said.

This dissatisfaction with the president’s job performance is also reflecting on congressional Democrats, many of whom are up for re-election next year.

For the first time this year the majority of voters, 41 percent, said they would vote for a Republican over a Democrat for the House of Representatives. A 47 percent majority of voters also said they would like to see Republicans take control of both the House and the Senate in 2014.

“President Obama could be pretty lonely during his last two years in office if voters decide they want Republican majorities in the House and Senate,” Malloy said.

Despite this, most American voters say they disapprove of the way both parties govern in Congress, with Republicans getting just a 19 percent approval rating and Democrats getting 27 percent.