Obama approval ratings down amid political flaps

President Barack Obama's approval ratings took a hit over the past month as he wrestled with controversies over the IRS, Benghazi and the secret seizure of journalists' phone records, AFP reports citing a poll. The Quinnipiac poll found that 49 percent of those surveyed had a negative opinion of Obama's job performance while 45 percent approved. Those numbers were the near inverse of a poll on May 1 that found 48 percent approved of the job he was doing, while 45 percent did not. The erosion in support tracked with a series of political tempests that have put Obama on the defensive on a variety of fronts. The Internal Revenue Service, which collects US taxes, admitted May 10 that it had inappropriately singled out for extra scrutiny conservative Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status. The administration's handling of the September 11 attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya also was back in the news, with a leak of internal emails and congressional hearings. Republicans have long accused the administration of deliberately playing down the attack, which killed four Americans including the ambassador, initially portraying it as a spontaneous reaction to an anti-Muslim video. The administration also has been on the defensive over revelations that the Justice Department secretly seized the phone records of Associated Press reporters as part of a leak investigation. The disclosure that a Fox News reporter's emails also were seized in another leak investigation added fuel to the fire. Quinnipiac said a majority of those surveyed had a negative opinion of Obama's handling of all three matters, with 51 percent giving a thumbs down on Benghazi and the IRS, and 55 percent in the AP case.