President Barack Obama has long maintained a decent public-approval rating despite his political problems. But with the disastrous health care rollout, his track record for bouncing back may be threatened, the Associated Press reports.
According to the AP, the president, because of his credibility, was able to bounce back even during nasty policy debates and a shaky start to his 2012 campaign. But now that Healthcare.gov is failing, and as facts seem to emerge daily that show the site was not ready to be launched, that credibility is on the line.
In addition, the fact that about 4 million people have received cancellation letters from their insurance companies, when Obama promised that those who wanted to keep their insurance could, does not help the president's case.
“It’s legitimate for them to expect me to have to win back some credibility on this health care law in particular and on a whole range of these issues in general,” Obama said during a recent news conference.
The polls reflect the president’s downward spiral.
In a Gallup poll released Nov. 13, the number of Americans who see the president as “honest and trustworthy” dropped 5 percentage points to 50 percent, down from 55 percent in September.
As bad as things are looking for Obama, other members of his party feels that the outlook is even worse for them, especially Democrats hoping to be re-elected next year. This gives Republicans some leverage, even though their ratings aren’t exactly looking bright, especially if they can stall on other major legislation, like immigration, to paint the president as incompetent, the AP notes.
Read more at the Associated Press.