New Pew Poll Parses Obama Approval Ratings

Perhaps spending time in his wife's Kitchen Garden would help the President's popularity? Mr. Obama has 51% approval rating, Mrs. Obama has 66%...

By Marian Burros

As she enters her fourth year in the White House, Michelle Obama’s favorable ratings have not changed much, according to the latest poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, released today. The First Lady was at her peak of popularity with a 76% approval rating in April, 2009, one month after she first broke ground for the White House Kitchen Garden. She remains much more popular than her husband, and she is more popular than the two previous First Ladies.

Despite unflattering descriptions of Mrs. Obama, which are based on re-writing her historic timeline in Jodi Kantor’s new book "The Obamas,” which was published a few days before the Pew poll was conducted, two-thirds or 66% of Americans now view Mrs. Obama favorably, while her unfavorable rating is 21%.

Perhaps it's time for President Obama to work in his wife's garden: He has not fared as well as his wife in Pew polls through the years. His personal favorable rating has fallen 22% from a high of 73% to a current level of 51%.

As for the First Lady, nine out of ten Democrats view Mrs. Obama favorably, as do 61% of Independents and 49% of Republicans. She will be stumping for her husband's re-elect campaign, and the big push includes a new Twitter account, @MichelleObama.

Previous polls conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that, at the peak of First Lady Laura Bush’s popularity, her rating was 71%, and went as low 54%. During the Clinton Administration, First Lady Hillary Clinton’s peak was 66% and went down to 42%.

Pew's national telephone poll was conducted Jan. 11 to Jan. 16th with 1,502 adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

First Lady is #8 on a new list of power food personalities...
In other "popularity" news for Mrs. Obama, The Daily Meal just pegged her as #8 on its list of “50 most powerful people in food for 2012,” down from her #4 position on the 2011 list. Mrs. Obama is cited for her Let's Move! campaign, including "urging a host of major casual chain restaurants, including Olive Garden and Red Lobster, to revamp their menus to include healthier meal options."

The ranking can't be taken that seriously, however, because the First Lady's blurb also notes: "Oh, and let’s not forget that she also published her first cookbook this year, called American Growth, and was awarded a James Beard Leadership Award in October.” Mrs. Obama's book, "American GROWN," has not yet been published. It is forthcoming in April of 2012.

Mrs. Obama is joined on the list by a wide array of people working on food initiatives, cooking, and agriculture, including chefs Anthony Bourdain, Mario Batali and Wolfgang Puck, as well as the President of Food Network. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is #2 on the list, for working “to help support economic recovery by focusing on agricultural infrastructure and renewable energy sources for farms” and fighting “against childhood obesity.”

*Photo at top by Pete Souza/White House, taken on Sept 21, 2011, as "the First Lady reacts to something the President whispered to her at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in between events related to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City."