President Barack Obama can't hope to best challenger Mitt Romney with poor national approval ratings, and the latest batch of approval numbers shows no overwhelming approval or disapproval from any pollsters. Rasmussen Reports, Gallup, and CNN/ORC International offered approval numbers running through the weekend with very little differences. CNN was slightly more optimistic, Rasmussen a bit more pessimistic and Gallup showed Americans evenly divided on his job performance.
53: Percent disapprove of the job Obama is doing, Rasmussen Reports' approval index history shows. Forty-six percent approve.
41: Percent strongly disapproved of his performance. Those who strongly approved were at 27 percent.
-14: Approval index, up from mid-May when it ranged from -22 to -15.
46: Percent in a Gallup poll approved and disapproved of the president's job.
49: Percent rating at this time in the presidency of George W. Bush in 2004. Former President Bill Clinton was at 53 percent in 1996 and President George H.W. Bush was at 37 percent in 1992.
52: Percent approve of Obama's job, according to the CNN/ORC International poll. Forty-seven percent disapprove.
Shawn Humphrey is a former contributor to The Flint Journal and lives near Washington in Gaithersburg, Md.
