At 58 percent, Obama's approval is 15 points higher than it was on the eve of the 2014 elections, where his party got blown out. We'll start by noting that Obama's approval rating in our survey is quite a bit higher than in other recent polls. Considering net approval (those who view Obama's performance positively minus those who view it negatively) we get a wide spread of opinions. If the link between support for Clinton and approval for Obama doesn't change, an increase in his approval numbers means an increase in her support. Those dots don't all rest on the line (because approval isn't the only factor at play), and there aren't so many dots that we can say that an increase in Obama's approval necessarily means Clinton's national numbers will be similarly strong.

Source: Washington Post September 12, 2016 11:02 UTC