Obama Gets Lower Marks in the South Than Nationally

While President Obama's job approval rating nationwide has been in the low- to mid-50s in most polls, a survey conducted in 11 Southern states puts his approval number at 47.4 percent while 42.2 percent disapprove and 9.9 percent are undecided.

The Winthrop poll was conducted Oct. 24 - Nov. 7 in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Those polled disapproved of Obama's handling of health care policy by 50.9 percent to 37 percent with 11.4 percent undecided. They disapproved of his handling of Iraq and Afghanistan by 47.9 percent to 38 percent with 13.2 percent undecided.

While Obama did not fare well on the job approval questions, Southerners still like him personally. Seventy-six percent see him as warm and friendly, 84.4 percent say he is a good communicator, 54.4 percent regard him as trustworthy and 61.5 percent say he "cares about people like me."

Southerners have a low opinion of Congress with 69.5 percent disapproving of the way it's doing its job compared to 18.4 percent who approve, with 11.7 percent undecided.

By 54 percent to 35.1 percent they think the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Asked whether they'd like to see a Republican or Democratic Congress after the 2010 elections, 44.5 percent chose the Republicans and 39.6 percent chose the Democrats with 13.1 percent undecided.