DURHAM, N.H. - President Barack Obama's approval ratings in New Hampshire have held steady for the third straight quarter after dropping in the year after his inauguration. Opinions about the recently passed health care reform legislation have remained unchanged since April.

These findings are based on the latest WMUR Granite State Poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. Five hundred four (504) randomly selected New Hampshire adults were interviewed by telephone between July 19 and July 27, 2010. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4.4 percent.

After declining in every Granite State Poll in 2009, President Obama's approval ratings in New Hampshire have stabilized in 2010. In the most recent Granite State Poll, 51 percent of New Hampshire adults say they approve of the job Obama is doing as president, 44 percent disapprove, and 5 percent are neutral. These figures are higher than his national ratings, a recent Gallup poll showed 46 percent of U.S. residents approved of the job Obama is doing as president.

Obama's approval ratings have declined slightly among Democrats, while they have remained relatively unchanged among independents and Republicans. Currently, 47 percent of independents in New Hampshire say they approve of the job Obama is doing as President, up slightly from 45 percent in April, but down 20 percentage points since October 2009. Support among self identified Democrats has declined slightly, from 90 percent in April to 85 percent in July, while only 13 percent of Republicans support Obama, up slightly from 10 percent in April.

Obama's personal favorability ratings have also stayed stable. Obama is currently viewed favorably by 51 percent of New Hampshire adults, 42 percent have an unfavorable opinion of him, and 5 percent are neutral. Obama's net favorability rating, the percentage having a favorable opinion minus the percentage having an unfavorable opinion, is +9 percent, slightly up from +6 percent in April.

Democrats continue to like Obama with 85 percent saying they have a favorable opinion of him, but only 47 percent of political independents and 15 percent of Republicans have a favorable opinion of the president.

The complete poll results are available at http://www.unh.edu/survey-center/news/pdf/gsp2010_summer_presapp080210.pdf.

The UNH Survey Center has conducted survey research projects at the University of New Hampshire since 1976. The center has grown rapidly during the past 30 years and now conducts approximately 40 to 50 major survey projects each year. More information: http://www.unh.edu/survey-center/.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling more than 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.

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Andrew Smith, director of the UNH Survey Center.
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