Is that the sound of vultures circling?
In a recently released poll, Gallup found Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's approval rating to be at 62% while President Barack Obama's is at 56%. The latter figure is favorable for a president, though for Obama it signals a 22% drop since January. From Gallup:
The results are based on an Oct. 1-4 Gallup survey. The poll was conducted before Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, which could have helped to improve his favorable rating over the 56% measured in the poll; however, it's not clear that any such shift would have lasted. In the first days after the prize's announcement, Obama's presidential job approval rating noticeably increased, but it has since retreated to its prior level.
The change in the relative popularity of Clinton and Obama since January may reflect the realities of their new roles. Obama came into office as president with a 78% favorable rating, among the highest Gallup has measured since it began tracking favorability in 1992. But after nearly nine months in office in which he has made or confronted difficult decisions — ranging from the economic stimulus package, to the auto industry bailout, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to health insurance reform, Obama's support has declined. His favorable rating now stands at 56%, and has fallen 10 points just since the last reading, in July. (Obama's job approval rating has followed a similar downward trajectory.)
List of others more popular than Obama: Santa Claus, Frank Sinatra, Samuel L. Jackson, Kool and the Gang, the Easter Bunny, Sheree from the 'Real Housewives of Atlanta', G. Gordon Liddy, that pizza delivery dude who hooked you up with free wings and Beyonce.