Obama Approval Rating Dips to 45 Percent

According to a CNN/ORC International poll released Monday, President Obama's approval rating has fallen eight points, to 45 percent—the lowest it has been since the numbers were crunched in November. The poll's findings were published in the wake of several scandals, most recently the leaks from former CIA employee Edward Snowden about U.S. government surveillance programs.

The Obama administration also continues to deal with fallout from the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of tea party groups that applied for tax-exempt status, its handling of last September's attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi that left the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans dead, and the Justice Department's secret collection of journalists' phone records. Yikes.

According to CNN Polling Director Keating Holland, "The drop in Obama's support is fueled by a dramatic 17-point decline over the past month among people under 30, who, along with black Americans, had been the most loyal part of the Obama coalition."

Forty-three percent of those polled believe that the Obama administration has gone too far in restricting civil liberties to fight terrorism. Thirty-eight percent say the administration has been "about right," and 17 percent say it has not gone far enough.

The public is similarly divided on Edward Snowden. Fifty-two percent disapprove of his actions, and 44 percent approve the leaks. I'm already looking forward to next month's poll.