Polls: Obama's approval ratings settling

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama's job approval rating has leveled out after a near-summer-long skid, a review of recent polls indicated.

Obama's approval numbers going into the fall have settled into the low 50s, within the expected range of the first year of a new presidency, Politico reported Tuesday. A recent Gallup Poll placed Obama's approval rating at 50 percent, way down from the mid-60s he enjoyed when he first took office in January.

The review showed Gallup's daily presidential tracking poll had Obama's approval rating at 51 percent, 52 percent or 53 percent since Sept. 5, Politico said. In that same period, Rasmussen's daily tracking poll has him between 48 percent and 52 percent, while the Internet-based Zogby poll had Obama's approval rating at 49 percent.

Presidents Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon were in the 50s by the time Gallup Polls were taken during their first autumns as president, Politico's review indicated. Dwight Eisenhower had a 61 percent approval rating during his first September as president.

The review indicated three presidents -- John F. Kennedy, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush -- had ratings in the 70s in their first Septembers. Politico noted, however, that George W. Bush's rating was influenced by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Obama "is certainly doing as well as, or better than, Reagan or Clinton," Frank Newport, Gallup Poll editor-in-chief, told the Washington publication. "He looks like he is holding his own compared to other presidents at this point."