Obama's Standing Among Voters Is Hurting #Democrats, Poll Finds

At McClatchy:

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is dragging down his party and hurting the prospects of fellow Democrats as they head into midterm elections that will determine who controls Congress, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.

Obama is beset by problems at home and abroad. Just 40 percent of voters approve of the way he’s doing his job, tying his worst mark in three years and the second worst of his presidency.

Just 39 percent approve of the way he’s dealing with the economy and only 33 percent approve of how he’s dealing with foreign policy, the worst of his years in office.

By 42-32 percent, voters say their opinions of Obama make them more likely to vote this fall for a Republican than for a Democrat.

And for the first time this election cycle, more people said they’d vote for a Republican than a Democrat for Congress, by 43 percent to 38 percent.

“The Democrats are sputtering,” said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in New York, which conducted the national survey.

Republicans are making the campaign a referendum on Obama, hoping that discontent with the president will help them win control of the Senate and hold their majority in the House of Representatives.

Republicans need a net gain of six seats to gain control of the Senate, which many analysts see as within reach. The Republicans’ House majority, now 234 to 199, appears safe.

More.