President Obama arrived in Italy on Wednesday and will meet with Pope Francis for the first time on Thursday. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama had met with Pope Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, early on in the President’s first term. While many are looking at this visit from a policy standpoint, the Pope and the President are close on the issue of economic inequality and somewhat close on same-sex marriage. Others are look at it seeing that the President is meeting with a man with much higher approval and favorability ratings. Gallup released polling today that shows the Pope has a 76% favorability rating among Americans. This is compared to the President, who’s favorability ratings are underwater for the first time in his Presidency. A new poll from George Washington University put the President’s favorability ratings at 47%/49%. This is the first time that the George Washington University poll has found President Obama’s favorability ratings underwater.
