Gallup: Obama approval slips below 50 percent

The "fiscal cliff" negotiations and a battle over U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice seem to be taking their toll on President Obama, who saw his approval rating dip below 50 percent for the first time since the presidential election on Thursday.

The latest Gallup tracking poll showed the president with a 49 percent approval rating, with 45 percent of respondents saying they disapproved of the president. That was a net swing of 5 points from Wednesday, when the president held a 51-42 percent approval rating.

The president has been above 50 percent in every other iteration of the rolling tracking poll taken since Election Day. But despite the slip, the president's favorability numbers still remain significantly better than during the heat of the presidential campaign, when the president routinely posted an underwater favorability score. In December of last year, only 41 percent of those surveyed said they approved of the president's job performance.

Interestingly, Obama's 49 percent approval now exactly matches his average score in the Gallup tracking poll throughout his first term.

Former President George W. Bush enjoyed a longer honeymoon period after his reelection, not falling back below 50 percent until April of his second term. But Bush also saw far greater variation during his presidency, rocketing between an 89 percent approval rating in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks to a 27 percent approval rating toward the end of his presidency.

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