Washington ( CNN ) -- It 's arguably the most important poll number for any president : his approval rating . As President Barack Obama gets ready to give the first State of the Union address of his second term , his approval rating stands at 50 % , with 43 % saying they disapprove of his performance in the White House , according to a new CNN Poll of Polls , which averages the latest non-partisan , live operator national surveys . Five things to watch . Here 's where the president stands as he prepares to lay out his second-term agenda : . Obama vs. Obama . The president 's 50 % -43 % approval/disapproval rating is down just a bit from a 52 % -43 % approval/disapproval numbers in a CNN Poll of Polls in mid-January , just before his second inauguration . `` Historically speaking , it 's not a surprise for a second-term president to lose a couple of points in the aftermath of his second inauguration , '' CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said . Obama approval rating edging down . Obama vs. predecessors . How does Obama stack up against the most recent two-term presidents as they gave the first State of the Union address of their second term ? George W. Bush stood at 51 % in January 2005 and Bill Clinton was at 62 % in January 1997 , according to CNN/Gallup/USA Today polling . Ronald Reagan had a 64 % approval rating in January 1985 and two-thirds of Americans approved of Richard Nixon in January 1973 , according to Gallup surveys . Nixon 's high rating came just as he announced the end to the Vietnam War . 8 memorable State of the Union moments . Obama vs. Congress . While the president 's approval rating is down slightly from last month and is lower than his immediate predecessors at the start of their second terms , his numbers are still far above both Democrats and Republicans in Congress . According to a Quinnipiac University national poll conducted earlier this month , 33 % approved of the job Democrats in Congress were doing . While that does n't look very good , it 's better than congressional Republicans -- their approval rating in the survey stood at 19 % . Clint Eastwood is n't satisfied with Congress . Priorities , priorities , priorities . So what do Americans want to hear from the president in his State of the Union address ? According to that same Quinnipiac poll , 35 % said Obama should focus on the economy , with 20 % saying the federal budget deficit is most important to them . Gun policy came in third at 15 % , followed by health care at 12 % , foreign policy and immigration each at 5 % and the environment at 3 % . As for the top concern , 53 % of those questioned said the economy is still in a recession , even though the recession technically ended 3Â½ years ago . Democrats , Republicans suggest priorities ahead of State of the Union . Who will be watching ? Two-thirds of those surveyed in the Quinnipiac poll said they were very or somewhat likely to watch the State of the Union -- that includes 86 % of Democrats , 64 % of independents and 46 % of Republicans . Besides the expected partisan divide , there 's a slight gender gap , with 71 % of women and 59 % of men saying they are very or somewhat likely to watch the prime-time speech . The new CNN Poll of Polls , compiled and released on Monday , averages the three nonpartisan , live-operator national surveys conducted in the past two weeks : Gallup 's daily tracking poll ( from February 8 to 10 ) ; Fox News ( February 4 to 6 ) , and Quinnipiac University ( January 30 to February 4 ) . Since the Poll of Polls is an average of multiple surveys , it does not have a sampling error .
Obama 's approval rating has dropped a few points in polls since his inauguration . Comment: While Obama 's numbers have slipped , they 're still well above those of Congress . Two-thirds of those surveyed say they 'll watch speech , but there 's a partisan divide .