Obama's Foreign Policy Approval Rating Is Lower Than Ever

According to a new poll by NBC and the Wall Street Journal, conducted before ISIS began rapidly seizing control in Iraq, President Barack Obama's foreign policy approval rating is, at 37 percent, the lowest it's ever been. 

The president got bad reviews in most categories. Obama's overall job approval rating is 41 percent, falling three points from April and tying with a previous all-time low. Plus, 54 percent of respondents said they believe Obama is no longer fit to lead the country, and only 42 percent said they believe he is. 

One of the pollsters, Peter Hart, told NBC that a number of recent incidents likely helped push the numbers down. "Whether it’s [Vladimir] Putin, Ukraine, the VA hospitals, Bowe Bergdahl, the events have controlled Obama, rather than Obama having controlled the events," he said, adding, "He may be winning the issues debate, but he’s losing the political debate, because they don’t see him as a leader." According to the Wall Street Journal, this could be bad news for Democrats in the midterm elections: 

Another ominous trend for Democrats heading into a midterm election that tends to swing on turnout: Mr. Obama has lost significant altitude among core constituencies such as Hispanics and younger Americans. The share of Hispanics who see Mr. Obama favorably and approve of his job performance has dropped from 67% in January 2013 to 44% in the latest poll.

But respondents did, indeed, agree with Obama's stance on a number of issues. Fifty-seven percent said they would be on board with requiring companies to lower greenhouse gas emissions, even if that means paying more for energy. Together, 61 percent said they believe "some" or "immediate" action must be taken to stop climate change, and 60 percent of respondents blame the VA scandal on bureaucratic issues, unlike only 14 percent who said the fault lies with Obama himself. 

And Obama wasn't the only one whose approval ratings have taken a hit -- the Republican party got similarly poor reviews from the public. Only 29 percent of respondents have positive opinions of the GOP, as opposed to 45 percent who view it negatively. Those figures were 38 percent and 40 percent for the Democratic party, respectively. And, of course, Congress took a hit, with only 32 percent of respondents saying their representative should be re-elected, and 57 percent saying it's time for someone new. 

Perhaps most sobering, only 25 percent of respondents said the U.S. is going in the right direction overall.