Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos & SEIU (8/11-14, MoE: ±3.1%, registered voters, Obama trendlines 8/4-7, all others 7/28-31):
That's a rough drop for everyone we test regularly—the president, congressional leaders, the parties. For PPP, in fact, Obama's numbers represent an all-time low. Check out
Pollster's trendline, limited just to PPP:
The current poll—i.e., this data—is not yet included on that chart, but if it were, it would eclipse Obama's recent low of 44-52 a month ago. It's usually hard to attribute reasons for such drops, but this is our first full poll after both the S&P credit rating downgrade and the insane gyrations on Wall Street last week. It's also important to note that Gallup, too, set a record low, and PPP's numbers are exactly in line with Pollster's national average of 43-52 disapproving.
The question, as always, is will these numbers hold steady, continue to ebb, or perhaps rise. If it really was that pair of economic disturbances that caused this, then if things stabilize on that front, so too might Obama's numbers. We'll just have to see.