

President Barack Obama speaks at a news conference at the NATO summit at Celtic Manor, Newport, Wales, Friday, Sept. 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Obama’s support among younger Americans has dropped again, matching his all-time low, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The president now has a 43 percent approval rating among adults 18-29, which is nearly half of what it was at the beginning of his presidency.

This is not uncharted territory for the president: he first hit an all-time low of 43 percent in November 2013 in this age category, during the time of the troubled Healthcare.gov launch. In 2009, Obama had an 84 percent approval rating in this age bracket, which is one of his core constituencies,.

His support from 18-29-year-olds has been waning slowly for some time. A similar Post-ABC poll from September 2011 marked the first time his approval ratings dropped below 50 percent among young people, during the budget battles and struggling economy that year.

But back then, his ratings were still higher among younger people than other age categories. Obama had a 43 percent approval rating among 30- to 64-year-olds and 40 percent from 65+ in September 2011. But for the first time in today’s poll, his approval numbers from younger Americans are now the same as the other two categories.

Obama's handling of immigration and international affairs appears to be chiefly responsible for his declining support. He has reached a new low of 30 percent approval among 18- to 29-year-olds on international affairs, compared to 50 percent in July.

Interestingly, 23 percent of young Americans believe the president is too aggressive in his handling of international affairs — almost four or five times that of the other age categories. This poll does not take into account his promised plan to deal with Islamic State. In comparison, 40 percent of 18-29 years think he is too cautious, compared to 57 percent for the 65+ voters.

On immigration, his approval ratings have fallen drastically among young people, from 55 percent last year to 26 percent this year. In July 2013, the younger group had a 55 percent approval rating and his rating for the 65+ group was 37 percent. Although the poll was taken soon after the White House announced his executive actions on immigration will be delayed, the numbers may not fully take this into account.

Some of those who responded to the poll have formed a negative view of Obama based on what they perceive as weak leadership.

Darrell Utt, a 19-year-old student from North Carolina, believes Obama is a weak leader. "He gives awesome speeches but his actions on Syria, ISIL and Ukraine have given me a negative view,” he says. Although Darrell has not had the opportunity to vote in a presidential election, he says he would not vote for Obama based on his record.

Bryan Leach, a 28-year-old security worker from Michigan, on the other hand voted for Obama in 2008 but not in 2012. “I thought he’d do well, change a lot of things and would be a bright president," he says.

"But I wasn’t happy with the performance in the first term and didn’t vote for him in 2012. And I’m still not satisfied.”