Poll: Obama's ratings rise as economic outlook improves
CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.
Most Americans still say the economy is in a rut, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll, but more and more say the economy is improving. And as the public grows more optimistic about the economy, the poll shows, President Obama is getting some credit for it.
As many as 34 percent of Americans say the economy is getting better, according to the poll, conducted February 8-13, up from 28 percent who thought so a month ago. While more than four in 10 think the economy is stuck in place, the percentage that says it is improving is the highest it has been in nearly two years.
Three in four Americans say the economy is in bad shape, and just 23 percent say it is good - but the percentage that says it is good has also been slowly climbing since late last fall, and is now at its highest level since last March.
And while a majority (59 percent) still think the country is on the wrong track, the percentage that says it is on the right track has risen to 35 percent, up from 29 percent a month ago and the highest in a year.
More Americans still disapprove (50 percent) than approve (44 percent) of Mr. Obama's handling of the economy, but he has improved some on this measure in the last few months. In January, 54 percent disapproved and 40 percent approved.
Evaluations of the president on handling job creation and the deficit also remain net negative, but approval of his handling of job creation is now 41 percent, up from 35 percent in December.
Forty-two percent of voters now think the president has made real progress fixing the economy, up from 33 percent earlier this year and 28 percent in December.
And at 50 percent, Mr. Obama's overall approval rating is now the highest it has been since immediately following the killing of Osama bin Laden last May.
The economy dominates as the issue voters most want to hear the presidential candidates discuss - and many political observers say the economic situation will play a critical role in whether or not the president is re-elected.
Mr. Obama has premised his economic platform on the notion of "fair play and shared responsibility," and his 2013 federal budget proposal includes a tax increase on wealthier Americans. The poll shows that 67 percent of Americans believe there should be a tax increase for households making $1 million or more annually, up from 60 percent in December.
The poll also shows that in the wake of a settlement with five of the nation's largest mortgage lenders , a majority of Americans, 55 percent, think the government should do more to help the housing market. Only 21 percent think it has done the right amount so far.
Voters tend to think both parties are more likely to be headed off on the wrong track than in the right direction, but they are more critical of the Republicans. While just 35 percent think the Democratic Party is headed in the right direction, this number drops even lower - to 26 percent - for the Republican Party. Six in 10 think the Republican Party is off on the wrong track; half say the same about the Democratic Party.
Seventy-three percent of Democrats think their party is headed in the right direction, while 55 percent of Republicans think the same of the Republican Party. Independents think both parties are headed in the wrong direction, though more think this of the Republican Party (67 percent) than the Democratic Party (56 percent).
Meanwhile, Congress' job approval remains low, at just 10 percent -- just one point above the historic low of 9 percent reached last fall.
Obama's Approval Rating over Time
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More from the poll:
Poll: Obama holds edge over GOP hopefuls
Poll: Most back mandating contraception coverage
Poll: Most GOP voters think long primary hurts nominee
This poll was conducted by telephone from February 8-13, 2012 among 1,197 adults nationwide. 997 interviews were conducted with registered voters. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The margin of error for the sample of registered voters could be plus or minus three points. The error for subgroups may be higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
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If you idiots don't want government intervention in the economy, then carry your silly arses down to Mexico where you can live your ideal TODAY without any bickering. Go make your fortune in an unregulated economy TODAY! You wont be missed, and you'll be happy!! LOL
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Gas is almost $5 in CA and NY
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35 million people already get government checks of some kind
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Because if it bursts before November he is out of a job.
Then one of the fake conservatives will win.
The definition of Republican is simply a type mental retardation!
FYI, Doofus, I have a master's degree in computer science, have been with the same employer for nearly two decades and pull in a nice six figure salary.
Any other questions?
When the focus is placed back on President Obama's failed policies and on his deceptions, I would hope Americans begin to pay attention. President Obama has lied since day one.
1) He lied 8 times in promises to televise the health care discussions openly on CSPAN. He never made good on it.
2) President Obama promised bipartisanship, but when McCain attempted to work with him on health care, President Obama basically said "I won, and you lost".
2) He refused to meet with Republican members of Congress who were medical doctors to discuss health care, but instead he meet behind closed doors with union bosses and made deals giving one premium health care plan to union members (supporters) and another to the rest of the country.
3) February 2009, President Obama promised to cut deficit spending in half by the end of his first term - but instead he has ramped up deficit spending to historic levels.
Over and over, he has deceived Americans. What he has made good on is his passion to "fundamentally transform" the United States from a democratic republic into a European style socialist democracy. He has pushed this nation more and more in that direction, and we all should take a long hard look at Europe. Look at Greece - is that what we want for our future?
I have never seen a President so destructive of the United States. He has continually pitted one group of Americans against another. He has trashed everyone in sight (including the Supreme Court), and never once owned up to his horrible failures.
I am SO ready for a new President.
Your post is just so full of one sided false arguments that it's hard to pick which one I should Google only to have the first link I click on completely destroy your argument. Therefore, instead, I decided to inform you that when the dust settles and a Republican nominee is chosen, there will not be a magic moment where suddenly everyone likes him. Obama will pick up where the other nominees left off and continue to remind American's how Republican's brought us to the brink of destruction over the course of 8 years, and that it will take more than 8 years to undo the damage; remind them that Republicans are the party that throughout history have fought to deny rights to women, blacks, gays, immigrants, etc; remind them that when Democrats controlled Congress, bills passed, but when Republicans took control of half of it, bills died. He will win the popular vote, as is customary by all presidents, by a measly 2-5% but he will win the electoral vote by a massive margin. America has a short memory span, but 4 years is not enough to forgot what GW did. Two wars, massive debt, massive spending that was not on the books, wars on science and climate change, etc. Too much to talk about here. So, uh, good luck.