Have the Republican political attacks on President Obama over the Flight 253 attempted bombing been working? So far the answer is no, from the polls that have come out since then — if anything, Obama’s approval rating may have gone up slightly.
In the Gallup daily tracking poll released on December 24, before the attack, Obama’s approval rating was 51%, with 42% disapproval. In the daily Rasmussen daily tracking poll, conducted during that same baseline period of December 21-23, Obama was at 44%-56% (Rasmussen consistently has Obama’s approval lower, and disapproval higher, than other outlets).
In the polls released yesterday, which were both conducted entirely after the attempted bombing, Gallup has Obama at 53%-41%, and Rasmussen has him at 47%-52%. Today’s Rasmussen poll is 46%-53%. Although the two polls are in different positions, the movement is roughly the same, with a very slight increase in Obama’s approval compared to the week before.
While this movement is obviously too small to suggest there’s been a definite improvement for Obama, and there certainly hasn’t been any sort of rally-around-the-flag effect, we can definitely rule out any sort of political backlash that Republicans have been trying to create.
