Poll: 59% of Catholics disapprove of Obama

(Washington Examiner) There goes the Catholic vote. Nearly four years after President Obama won 54 percent of Catholic voters, their support has plummeted to just 40 percent in the first poll conducted after he imposed a new birth control mandate on employers, including Catholic agencies.

In a new Rasmussen poll, 59 percent of Catholics now disapprove of the president's job. Rasmussen reports that 44 percent strongly disapprove. About 40 percent at least somewhat approve of Obama's job.

"Catholics strongly disapprove of the job President Obama is doing as the debate continues over his administration's new policy forcing Catholic institutions to pay for contraception they morally oppose," the pollster said in releasing his new survey. He added that while Obama's approval rating in other groups has improved, among Catholics it has remained stagnant.

Washington Secrets reported earlier that the president's controversial insurance mandated, rejected by Catholic bishops, was uniting Catholics politically, something rarely done by a politician or his policies.