Two recently released national polls show President Barack Obama with a 50 percent or better approval rating, while a third poll shows he has a 50 percent disapproval rating.
While the president's approval trends have generally hovered in the 40 percentile range for much of 2012, his recent ratings are among the best he's seen in a year.
Here's a look at the presidential approval ratings by the numbers.
51: A majority of 1,500 adults polled by Gallup said they approve of the job President Obama is doing. 51 percent approved of his performance, while 43 percent disapproved. The poll was a three-day rolling average of April 30 through May 2.
3: There was a plus or minus margin of error of 3 percent.
53: According to Gallup, the 52-week high for the president was 53 percent from May 30 to June 1 2011. His low was 38 percent October 15 through 17 2011.
50: Rasmussen Reports also gave President Obama a positive approval rating, with 50 percent of voters approving of his job performance; 29 percent of those voters strongly approve. Another 49 disapprove, with 37 percent strongly disapproving. The poll was conducted May 3.
-8: The president is seeing his best approval index rating in almost a year, with a -8 rating for May 3. His last strong approval rating was May 18, 2011.
51: On one key election year issue, a majority of people feel the United States and its allies is winning the War on Terror according to Rasmussen. 51 percent agree the U.S. is besting terror agents, while 11 percent think the terrorists are winning. Rasmussen polled 1,500 likely voters, 500 per night and the poll has a plus or minus 3 percent margin of error.
45: According to a poll of likely voters conducted by Democracy Corps conducted between April 28 and May 1, President Obama has a total approval of 45 percent and 50 percent disapproval. When asked if they approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president, 26 percent strongly approved and 19 percent somewhat approved. 10 percent of those polled somewhat disapproved and 39 percent strongly disapproved. 5 percent didn't know or refused to answer. Democracy Corps spoke with 1,000 people, all of whom were registered voters.
Shawn Humphrey is a former contributor to The Flint Journal and lives near Washington D.C. in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
