Confidence in President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy has reached an all time low, and voters believe that the two Republican frontrunners, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, could do a better job, according to a poll released Thursday by Quinnipiac.
Just 41 percent of American voters say they approve of Obama’s job performance, while 55 percent disapprove. 64 percent of voters say they disapprove of how the president is handling the economy – an all time high. Just 32 percent say they approve.
Those numbers are particularly bad among independents, 69 percent of whom disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy. His numbers are also bad among Hispanics, with 57 percent saying they disapprove of his handling of the economy.
Voters are more confident in Romney and Perry’s abilities to handle the economy. 49 percent say they trust Romney to do a better job than Obama, while just 39 percent say they would they think Obama would do a better job.
Voters have less confidence that Perry could do a better job than Obama. 45 percent say he could, while 42 percent say Obama would do a better job. Independents are not entirely sold, with just 43 percent saying Perry would do a better job. However, that demographic seems to have lost a lot of confidence in Obama. Just 39 percent say he would do a better job than Perry, and just 36 percent believe he would do a better job than Romney.
The public is generally quite pessimistic about the state of the economy. 55 percent say it is poor, 38 percent say it is not so good, and there is little confidence that it will get better. 44 percent actually believe that the economy is getting worse, while 44 percent say it is staying the same. Just 11 percent believe things are looking up.
Hopes for economic recovery does not improve if Obama is reelected, with 36 percent saying they economy would get worse, 31 percent saying it would stay the same, and 29 percent saying it would get better.
If Mitt Romney is elected, however, 36 percent believe the economy will get better, just 16 percent say it will get worse, and 37 percent believe it will stay the same.
While that figure does not quite reflect resounding optimism about a Romney presidency, voters seem to believe that even if he cannot make things better, at the very least, he will not make things any worse.
Voters are slightly less confident in Perry than Romney. 30 percent say the economy would get better under President Perry, while 24 percent say it would get worse, and 32 percent believe it would say the same.
Numerous polls have shown that the economy is the paramount issue on voters minds, so these numbers could spell trouble for the sitting president.
The poll is based on telephone interviews with 2,118 registered voters from September 27 through October 3, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.