Gallup: Americans less confident in federal leaders

An overwhelming majority of the American people have only a little or almost no confidence that President Barack Obama and congressional leaders will do the right thing for the American economy, a new poll shows.

According to Gallup’s Economic index score, only 42 percent of Americans have confidence in Obama regarding what he can do for the US economy, the lowest figure Gallup has on record for him.

Fifty-seven percent have only a little or almost no confidence in Obama to recommend the right thing for the economy while 61 percent and 71 percent have the same view regarding Democratic leaders in Congress and Republican leaders in Congress, respectively.

This is the first time Obama’s rating has fallen below the 50 percent mark on the question of Americans’ confidence in his ability to recommend the right thing for the economy.

“President Obama’s current rating on the question took a 15-percentage-point dive from last year, and it is now the same as his current job approval score. Compared with his predecessor, Americans have the same degree of confidence now as they did in then-President George W. Bush during his sixth year in office (44%),” Gallup said.

“Americans have even lower confidence in congressional leaders of both parties than the president, as is typically the case. However, their confidence in congressional leaders on economic matters is the lowest Gallup has measured to date,” it added.

Gallup’s confidence score for Democratic leaders was 35 percent, while Republican leaders in Congress received a 24 percent mark in confidence, the lowest on record for either party.

Though six months have passed since the federal shutdown, its aftermath still creates tremors in the minds of many Americans. The shutdown also caused a dramatic drop in confidence in elected leaders’ economic recommendations.