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Most Americans believe Obama should be a one-term president: poll

A majority of Americans don’t think President Obama deserves to keep his job, a poll released today shows.

With less than two weeks to go before the midterm elections, a survey conducted by Gallup shows that only 39 percent of Americans think Obama deserves to be re-elected in 2012.

A staggering 54 percent think he should be a one-term president, the poll found.

Earlier this year, between 46 and 48 percent of Americans said Obama should be re-elected.

The survey also shows that Obama has averaged a job approval rating of 44.7 percent during the first seven quarters of his presidency.

Obama’s average approval rating has declined each quarter since he took office nearly two years ago — falling by more than two percentage points in the most recent quarter to establish a new low.

Similar Gallup polling conducted in the past shows a lot can happen over the next two years for Obama.

At this time in 1994, for example, only 38 percent said former President Bill Clinton deserved a second term.

Clinton cruised to win re-election two years later over Kansas Sen. Bob Dole.

In 2002, 62 percent of Americans said former President George W. Bush deserved to be re-elected as the country unified around him following the 9/11 attacks.

Two years later, Bush narrowly defeated Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry to keep his job.

With the midterm elections looming, Obama’s declining public support means the Democratic Party is vulnerable to heavy losses in Congress.

Gallup said that the president’s party has traditionally lost an average of 36 House seats when his approval rating is below 50 percent.

However, Ronald Reagan was in similar bind two years into his presidency in 1982, but recovered in time to win a second term.