In the wake of the Obamacare fiasco, President Obama’s poll numbers are collapsing in two industrial Midwestern states — the quintessential swing state of Ohio and his home state of Illinois.
In Illinois, the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found Obama’s approval rating falling to just 50–46 positive in a state he carried by 17 points just a year ago. His biggest drops in support came among women voters (only 50 percent positive) and Hispanics (only 51 percent positive). Without his overwhelming support among African-Americans (92 percent), his approval rating would easily be in the low 40s. The liberal website Daily Kos says all this represents “a very bad sign for Democrats heading into 2014.” Daily Kos notes that incumbent Democratic governor Pat Quinn is in even worse shape, with only a 34 percent approval rating.
In Ohio, a new Quinnipiac poll has Obama’s approval rating at 34 percent positive and 61 percent negative. Compare that to the president’s four-point win over Mitt Romney just a year ago. “This is a state considered to be a national bellwether,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the poll. “Now Obama is approved by 30 percent of men, 38 percent of women, 27 percent of white voters, and 83% of black voters.”
If this kind of collapse is seen in other key large states, expect Democrats returning to Washington from the holidays to begin talking about open mutiny against the White House over Obamacare.