Obama Approval Rating Below 40%: Gallup Poll

President Obama's approval rating in the Gallup daily tracking poll sunk to 40 percent today. Only 39 percent of those polled said that they approve of Obama's performance.

54 percent said that they are unhappy with Obama's performance.

The tracking poll said the results "are based on telephone interviews with approximately 1,500 national adults" and that the margin of error is 3 percentage points.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the president's approval rating has been in the 40 percent rage for much of this year, peaking at 53 percent after Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs.

The reason for the steep decline? Americans feel that Obama's job performance declined after the debt-ceiling debate reared its ugly head. By the time he signed legislation that would derail a federal default, he was in the low-40 percent range.

Obama's approval rating average was 42 percent Aug. 1 through Aug. 7. His average for the entire term is 51 percent, with a high point of 69 percent from Jan. 22 through Jan. 24, 2009. In August of third year presidency, George W, Bush average 60 percent in Aug. 2003 while Bill Clinton averaged 46 percent Aug. 1995.

Obama will go on a three-day bus tour of the Midwest to try to undo some of the damage. The White House maintains that the trip is not politically motivated.