A majority of people surveyed in both parties said Mr. Obama was striving to work in a bipartisan way, but most faulted Republicans for their response to the president, saying the party had objected to the $787 billion economic stimulus plan for political reasons. Most said Mr. Obama should pursue the priorities he campaigned on, the poll found, rather than seek middle ground with Republicans. ...A majority of Americans, 55 percent, say they are just making ends meet, with more than 6 in 10 concerned that someone in their household might lose his job in the next year. Americans are under no illusions that the country's problems will be resolved quickly, but the poll suggested that they will be patient when it comes to the economy, with most saying it would be years before significant improvement. A month into Mr. Obama's term, with his first big accomplishments, setbacks and political battles behind him, more than three-quarters of the people polled said they were optimistic about the next four years with him as president. Similar percentages said that they thought he was bringing real change to the way things were done in Washington and that they had confidence in his ability to make the right decisions about the economy.The times article also reported,
Mr. Obama's approval rating is about 10 percentage points higher than either George W. Bush or Bill Clinton were at this early stage of their presidencies. His job approval rating of 63 percent includes 88 percent of Democrats and 44 percent of Republicans. ...56 percent of those surveyed said Mr. Obama's priority should be following the policies he proposed during the campaign last year, rather than working with Republicans.CBS reports
Americans are more optimistic about the situation in Iraq than they have been since 2003, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds, with 63 percent saying that things are going well for the United States in the country. Less than two years ago, just 22 percent said things were going well. The improved perceptions do not mean Americans want U.S. troops to stay in Iraq, however: Seventy-eight percent believe it is important that troops leave the country within President Obama's timeline of 16 months, with 46 percent saying it is very important they do so.CBS takes a 42% level of support for increasing troop levels in Afghanistan as significant, compared to 34% in January, though, with 3% margins of error, there is only a reliable 2% difference. Is CBS beating a new drum of war? After all, 42% is still a minority support level. But 69% support changing the military policy that prevents showing caskets of returning soldiers. When it comes to Iran, the poll reports,
There is little support for immediate military intervention in Iran. Just 13 percent say the U.S. should undertake military action now, while 58 percent say the situation in Iran can be contained through diplomacy. An additional 19 percent say Iran is not a threat at this time.
