February 5, 2009 6:30 PM

Obama's Approval Rating: 62 Percent

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
Polling
(CBS)
A new CBS News survey out today, detailed in full here, finds that President Obama's approval rating now stands at 62 percent. Fifteen percent disapprove of the president, while 23 percent have not made a decision.

It is not unusual for a newly-inaugurated president to enjoy a favorable approval rating, though Mr. Obama's rating two weeks into his presidency exceeds that of his two immediate predecessors.

Both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton had approval ratings of 53 percent around this point in their presidency; George H.W. Bush, with a 61 percent approval rating at this point, nearly matched Mr. Obama.

President Obama is not setting records for popularity, however: John F. Kennedy enjoyed at 72 percent approval rating at this point in his presidency, while Dwight Eisenhower had a 68 percent rating and Jimmy Carter a 66 percent rating.

Nearly all Democrats and most independents approve of the job President Obama is doing, while Republicans are evenly divided.

On specific issues, small majorities approve of the job the president is doing: He has a 55 percent approval rating on handling the economy, a 52 percent approval rating on handling terrorism, and a 50 percent approval rating on foreign policy. Many Americans have yet to make up their minds on his handling of these issues.

There is wide belief that President Obama has strong qualities of leadership, with 85 percent saying so – including 65 percent of Republicans. In July 2008, just 62 percent said Mr. Obama had strong leadership qualities.

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by kig1208 May 8, 2009 6:15 PM EDT
Let's get it right.... the Republicans have come along to clean up the mess that the Dems left behind..ie Jimmy Carter. Oh that's right they've change the history books.
All that Obama is doing is window dressing... he's making all these bills and new policies look so so good, but anyone with intelligence need only look a little further and see the long term damage being done. Dem, Rep or Ind we are ALL losing in this admin. By the way when is hi going to stop blaming Bush and take responsibility for his actions and those of his party... ie Pelosi?
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by doggysector April 20, 2009 5:15 PM EDT
Obama is basically banking on the fact that people are more interested in security then political freedom. That is what Hitler did. He enacted federal health care paid by the private sector. Obama is doing the same thing. Who cares how the world views Obama. Who cares that they hated Bush? I am sure that Roosevelt was not popular with the guards at Auschwitz
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by jondoe91941 April 14, 2009 12:44 AM EDT
A plan to bail out business that have failed themselves is only a plan to fail itself.
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by jondoe91941 April 14, 2009 12:42 AM EDT
Just like there was still 22% that thought bush was doing a good job, there will probably be around 40% that will always think Obama's doing a good job.. That's because they don't pay any income taxes and these bailouts, breaks, stimulus, etc will only help them since they (once again) don't pay income taxes. When this welfare state mentality hits 60% then what?? The logic of these bailouts is similar to standing in a bucket and trying to pick it up..

Currently with all this wasteful government spending, Myself and my wife now have to pay 38% higher taxes than before, and both of us combined are making under $40K How fair is that? Tax break for 95% of Americans my ass, The whopping $20/month he saved us has already been consumed by the increase in gas prices.. Might as well have given it directly to the oil mogul's since thats where its going anyways..
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by obamahater February 7, 2009 2:16 AM EST
There will always be the majority of people that are stupid enough to believe everything that comes from the media. And elect idiots that don''t know there head from there ***. pRESIDENT Obama is nothing but a idiot that got elected because of the color of his skin. So much for for the Dream of Martin Luther King.
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by obamahater February 7, 2009 2:14 AM EST
There will always be the majority of people that are stupid enough to believe everything that comes from the media. And elect idiots that don''t know there head from there ***. pRESIDENT Obama is nothing but a idiot that got elected because of the color of his skin. So much for for the Dream of Martin Luther King.
Reply to this comment
by obamahater February 7, 2009 2:12 AM EST
There will always be the majority of people that are stupid enough to believe everything that comes from the media. And elect idiots that don''t know there head from there ***. pRESIDENT Obama is nothing but a idiot that got elected because of the color of his skin. So much for for the Dream of Martin Luther King.
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by bigloudbike February 6, 2009 10:18 PM EST
I agree! this is all happening because of Republican Policies. Which time after time never work! Seems the Dems always are stuck fixing the economy after the fact. Just look at the History.Republicans equals war, giant deficits,Tax shifts to the Middle Class,And big time Corruption( Dems aren''''t perfect either,but there is less thier seems). Also It seems all republicans do the blame on everone else except them even when it is their policies which they put in power.Who was in Power the last eight years? Looks like they will never learn to take responsibilities for thier own actions.Now its time to fix it and they want no part in what they did. Time to abolish the Republican Party as a whole.
Reply to this comment
by bigloudbike February 6, 2009 9:20 PM EST
I agree! this is all happening because of Republican Policies. Which time after time never work! Seems the Dems always are stuck fixing the economy after the fact. Just look at the History.Republicans equals war, giant deficits,Tax shifts to the Middle Class,And big time Corruption( Dems aren''''t perfect either,but there is less thier seems). Also It seems all republicans do the blame on everone else except them even when it is their policies which they put in power.Who was in Power the last eight years? Looks like they will never learn to take responsibilities for thier own actions.Now its time to fix it and they want no part in what they did. Time to abolish the Republican Party as a whole.
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by noloyalisti February 6, 2009 6:06 PM EST
Yeah, there was still 22% of Americans who thought Butch-Vader was doing a good job. Those were the people who would call a white car black and believe it.
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