When you track the President’s Job Approval on a daily basis, people sometimes get so caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations that they miss the bigger picture. To look at the longer-term trends, Rasmussen Reports has compiled the numbers on a full-month basis and the results can be seen in the table in the body of this article below.

The President’s numbers have fallen since the euphoria of inauguration day, but are still generally positive. Since January, the number who Strongly Approve has fallen from 43% to 34% in June. During that same time frame, the number who Strongly Disapprove has grown from 20% to 32%. That’s about what you’d expect from a President transitioning from a honeymoon period to a time when he will start to be judged by his policies. Those numbers translate to a Presidential Approval Index that has declined from +23 in January to +2 in June.

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These numbers do not support the partisan spin coming from either side of the aisle. In fact, a good description of the situation is the same as Scott Rasmussen noted in an analysis on the President’s 100th day in office: “Republicans and conservatives try to paint a portrait of declining support and weakness. Democrats and liberals see a president with unrivaled popularity and power. Both assessments are wrong.”

Realistically, no one can tell what will happen next. If the economy recovers and policy moves like the GM takeover appear to be working out, the President’s ratings could be bouncing higher a year from now. On the other hand, if the economy remains weak and GM is back asking for more bailout money, the President’s ratings will suffer. Two-thirds of American voters (64%) support a law requiring the federal government to sell its interest in GM within one year.

The number of Republicans who Strongly Disapprove of the President has grown from 35% in January to 58% in June.

During that same time frame, the number of Democrats who Strongly Approve has slipped from 74% to 61%. Among those not affiliated with either major party, the number who Strongly Approve has fallen ten percentage points (Premium Members can see a month-by-month data snapshot.

Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters nationwide considered the economy the top issue in January. That grew to 50% in February before trending down to 42% in June. Separate survey data shows a high degree of partisan economics. Democrats are evenly divided as to whether the economy is getting better or worse. Republicans and unaffiliated voters overwhelmingly believe the economy is getting worse.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of voters believe the President’s economic stimulus plan has helped the economy while 30% believe it has hurt. Americans are fairly evenly divided on the President’s proposed health care reform and climate change legislation.