Do Voters Believe Obama Loves America?
U.S. voters overwhelmingly say they love this country, but one-out-of-three doesn’t believe President Obama feels that way.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 35% of Likely U.S. Voters agree with this statement made last week by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani – “I do not believe that the president loves America. He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.” Just over half (51%) disagree with this comment, but another 14% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Sixty-two percent (62%) of Republican voters do not believe Obama loves the nation he leads. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Democrats and unaffiliated voters by a 48% to 33% margin say that’s not true. But it’s interesting to note that eight percent (8%) of Democrats, 14% of GOP voters and one-in-five unaffiliateds (19%) are undecided about the man who has served as president of the United States for over six years now.
By comparison, 92% of all voters say they love this country. Just two percent (2%) do not, with six percent (6%) who are undecided.
Fifty-seven percent (57%) believe the United States is more exceptional than other nations. Just half as many (28%) disagree, while 15% are not sure. This is unchanged from September 2013 just after Russian President Vladimir Putin in an op-ed article in the New York Times questioned the view of “American exceptionalism” long expressed in this country, based in large part on our democratic and constitutional origins. President Reagan expressed this view when he described the United States as “a shining city on a hill.”
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The survey of 800 Likely Voters was conducted on February 22-23, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Rasmussen Reports did not identify Giuliani as the source of the comment about the president in our question, but we did ask voters what they now thought of the mayor who steered New York City through the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Fifty-two percent (52%) have a favorable opinion of Giuliani, including 20% with a Very Favorable one. He’s seen unfavorably by 36%, with 18% who share a Very Unfavorable view. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided.
Most Republicans and unaffiliated voters view Giuliani favorably; most Democrats do not.
GOP voters are only slightly more likely than the others to say they love this country. But while 71% of Republicans think America is more exceptional than other nations, only 50% of voters in the president’s party and 52% of unaffiliated voters agree.
Voters who believe the United States is more exceptional are almost evenly divided over the question of whether the president loves this country. Those who do not consider America more exceptional than other nations disagree with Giuliani’s statement by a 65% to 27% margin.
The older the voter, the more likely he or she is to think Obama does not love America.
Mainstream voters say they love this country more strongly than those in the Political Class do and also feel more strongly that America is more exceptional. Nearly half (48%) of those in the Mainstream believe the president does not love this country; 85% of Political Class voters disagree.
Obama’s daily job approval ratings have improved slightly since Election Day, but voters are almost evenly divided when asked if they approve or disapprove of the job he is doing. But those who Strongly Disapprove continue to outnumber voters who Strongly Approve.
Just 32% now think America’s best days are in the future.
An overwhelming majority (92%) thinks being a citizen of the United States is important, including 75% who say it’s Very Important. But 28% continue to think it’s too easy to become a U.S. citizen, while 18% say it’s too hard.
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The survey of 800 Likely Voters was conducted on February 22-23, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
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