Gallup: West Virginians Decidedly Down on Obama

President Barack Obama faces his third-worst job approval rating among the states in West Virginia, according to Gallup's poll of 1,276 residents conducted over the course of 2009.

The share of those surveyed who said they approved of the way Obama is handling his job as president, 45.9 percent, was still larger than the 40.7 percent who disapproved.

Only two states, Wyoming and Idaho, saw more respondents disapprove that approve.

But Obama's poor showing in a state found to be "Solid Democratic" in another Gallup survey makes his West Virginia approval rating more conspicuous.

"In West Virginia, Obama's approval rating was nearly 7 points lower than the percentage of Democrats state-wide, the only state showing this pattern," Gallup said.

The survey report notes that Obama did not carry West Virginia in 2008. The poll has a 95 percent confidence level, and the margin of error for most states is +/- 3 percentage points, Gallup said. The poll was conducted both by land-line telephone and cell phone.

A Public Policy Polling survey released in mid-2009 registered a 39 percent approval rating for Obama in West Virginia.