Obama’s State of the Union Approval Rating is Up

President Obama’s approval rating has been creeping up since mid-December and is 45 percent in the Real Clear Politics average with 5 percent negative spread. On Election Day, November 2014, his approval rating was 42 percent with a negative 11 percent spread.

Pew Research reports Obama’s pre-State of the Union approval rating is 47 percent, which places him below Bill Clinton (63%), but ahead of George W. Bush (33%), at the same point in their terms. He’s near Ronald Reagan (49%), who was suffering with Iran-Contra (Pew Research, Jan 11, 2015.)

Reasons for the improvement are:

• The economy is finally seen by the public as improving
• Some of his post November election executive actions have pleased key constituents, such as Hispanic Americans
• Simply taking executive action has given him a lift from the November losses and made him seem relevant and in charge

His approval rating is dramatically better than prior to his last State of the Union when he was coming off the poor roll-out of Obamacare and there was a general consensus that Democrats could lose the U.S. Senate in November – they did.

The Real Clear Politics average is a lagging indicator. Several new surveys have Obama’s approval at or near 50 percent.