President Obama Finds Greatest Support Among Atheists and Jews

Posted by Tim Drake

Saturday, October 03, 2009 5:12 AM

Gallup’s Daily Tracking for the month of September found that 65% of American atheists, agnostics and nonreligious approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president. The president finds his greatest support from nonreligious and American Jews.

64% of U.S. Jews approve of the job the president is doing. Two-thirds of white Jews (66%) approve of the job Obama is doing, compared with 44% of whites nationwide, 45% of white Catholics, and 37% of white Protestants.

His approval rate among American Jews is in stark contrast to the opinion held by Israeli Jews. A recent poll of Jews in Israel, sponsored by the Jerusalem Post, found only 4% believing Obama’s policies are “pro-Israel.”

Overall, the president’s approval rates have declined, even among his biggest supporters. Nationwide, his approval rating was at 66% in January and has fallen to 52%. Among Jewish supporters, 83% supported him in January. That is now down to 64%.

Surprisingly, Gallup didn’t include the president’s approval ratings among American Muslims. Muslims are not included, Gallup said, because, at less than 0.5% of Gallup’s sample, there are too few cases to analyze in Gallup’s September polling.

Filed under atheism, atheist, jewish, obama, support