President Barack Obama's low approval ratings and unwillingness to bring his policies closer to the midline of American thinking are going to hurt Democrats in the midterm elections, one political analyst says.
The latest
Washington Post-ABC News Poll shows Obama's approval rating is down 5 points to 41 percent, the lowest of his presidency.
Just 42 percent approve of his handling of the economy, 37 percent approve of how he is handling the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and 34 percent approve of his handling of the situation involving Ukraine and Russia.
Matt Towery, founder of InsiderAdvantageGeorgia, told J. D. Hayworth on "America's Forum" on NewsmaxTV that while midterm elections are historically bad for presidents, Obama's sinking approval numbers, unpopular programs and weak foreign policies have created a perfect storm of negativity that will be hard for Democrats to overcome at the polls in November.
"I don't think there are many Democrats around the country who feel like he's going to be a big help to any effort they make either to be reelected or more importantly to capture open seats," Towery said Tuesday.
"This is a problematic situation because this is not just a matter of popularity, it's a matter of if you can take across-the-board foreign policy, his approval ratings are bad there, as far as the economy goes, approval ratings aren't good there, implementation of the Affordable Care Act, they're not there either.
"He doesn't have a strong suit that he can rely on and say, 'Look, but I'm really doing well here.' There's just nothing in this polling set of numbers."
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According to Towery, Obama's current situation is unlike that of other presidents who saw sagging poll numbers late in their terms, and he has shown no inclination to try to reverse the downward spiral.
"If you look at presidents that are usually unpopular at this point, look at the reasons," Towery explained. "Jimmy Carter had the situation in Iran, that's why he had such bad approval ratings toward the end of his term. When you looked at George W. Bush, obviously he had gotten involved in several wars, they became sort of unpopular, the economy began to slip at the end, his numbers were bad.
"Those who bounce back are people like Bill Clinton, who sort of take matters into their own hands and decide that they're going to work with the American people . . . This president is trying to go opposite a center nation. We are a center, slightly to the right, nation still, and he is more left of center and in many instances extremely left of center, and he's not even getting the support of people who normally would identify with left of center."
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