Even before President Obama’s controversial “You-didn’t-build-that” comment, approval ratings by the the nation’s business owners of Mr. Obama were falling to a new low, according to a new Gallup poll released Thursday.
Just 35 percent of business owners approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing, down from 41 percent in the first quarter, the poll found.
Across all occupation groups, the nation is deeply divided about President Obama — 47 percent of working Americans approved of the job he is doing as president while 47 disapproved, a slight improvement from 45 percent approval and 48 percent disapproval in the first quarter. Mr. Obama got a bounce in approval during the second quarter, largely from installation and repair workers, clerical and office workers, as well as manufacturing or production workers.
Business owners were the sole group who became significantly less approving, essentially tying farmers and fishers for the lowest rating of the president. Those groups were among the most supportive of GOP rival Mitt Romney
Overall, professional workers were the most most approving at 52 percent, the poll found.
The polling information predates the firestorm over Mr. Obama’s July 13 comments that appeared to imply that business owners weren’t entirely responsible for their success because public infrastructure, education and research helped paved the way.
“It is not yet clear whether those comments have led to further deterioration in Obama’s standing among small-business owners,” Gallup wrote in a summary of its findings.
The poll can be found at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/156206/Business-Owners-Among-Least-Approving-Obama.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headlines%20-%20Politics#1
