HPU: Obama at 42% Approval; McCrory at 38%

A High Point University Poll released this week finds that 42 percent of North Carolinians approve of President Barack Obama's job performance, and that North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory's job approval rating is 38%.   U.S. Senator Kay Hagan has a job approval rating of 32 percent.

A poll taken by HPU earlier this month showed a 39 percent approval rating for both the governor and the president, while 40 percent of those polled approved of Hagan's job performance. A majority, 65 percent, say it is time to move on to another US Senator rather than to re-elect Hagan. 

Dr. Sadie Leder Elder, the associate director of the High Point University Poll, and an assistant professor of psychology at the school said, commented, "Two weeks after our last poll, there is not much positive movement for most of the top elected officials. This general discontent with government is similar to negative feelings we have been seeing in how people think about other parts of their lives as well."

Another High Point  University Poll, released today (October 2) shows only one in five residents of North Carolina say the country is going in the right direction, and most think that the economy -- both statewide and nationally -- are getting worse.  Twenty percent of those questioned say the country is headed in the right direction, while 72 percent say the United States is on the wrong track.  This compares with 69 percent who said the country was on the wrong track a month ago.

Fifty-four percent -- a majority of the respondents -- say economic conditions in the US as a whole are getting worse, and 52 percent say the same thing about the economy in North Carolina.

HPU Poll Director Dr. Martin Kifer said, "For some time, we have been tracking North Carolinians' pessimistic views about the direction of the country, and economic conditions here in North Carolina, and the country as a whole. We'll continue to track these attitudes closely for signs that North Carolinians are seeing changes in the economic climate."

For complete poll results, questions, sampling information and methodology, click here.