How is President Obama Doing?

Somehow, that minority of conservatives represented by talk-radio rattlebrains and Fox News rattlesnakes has been able to convince many that the nation is becoming disenchanted with President Obama. The opposite is quite true. President Obama is riding a powerful wave of popularity throughout the nation and around the world. His economic program is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans.

Although President Obama beat McCain in the election by only 52% to 46%, recent polls have shown the President with a national approval rating of 66%(ABC/Washington Post Poll, March 30, 2009, and April 1-5 New York Times/CBS News poll). According to a recent Gallup poll, the President’s stimulus plan drew a 67% approval rating. The ABC/WP poll found that 64 % of Americans have confidence that President Obama's economic policies will improve the sagging economy. At this point in his presidency, President Reagan was able to get a similar confidence vote of only 52%.

The poll figures for President Obama should be compared with the most recent polls for George W. Bush. The ABC/WP poll in January of this year found that Bush had an approval rating of only 33% with a disapproval rating of 66%. The always loveable Dick Cheney amassed a 30% approval rating during the same period.

In case you think that President Obama’s high approval ratings are simply a reflection of the honeymoon granted by voters to every newly-elected president, compare Obama’s 66% approval to George W. Bush’s 58% rating at the same time in March/April 2001. While every president gets some kind of a honeymoon, President Obama is getting a celebration!

Another indicia of the popularity of the Obama Administration is a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll that showed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with a 71% approval rating. Of the people surveyed, 75% approved of President Obama's Cabinet picks.

The approval ratings of Congress under the Democrats have gone up over 20 points since President Obama took office. Democrats in Congress now have a 48% approval rating while Republicans earn an impressive 31%. Although Congress never seems to get much respect, the ratings for Republicans John Boehner (28%) and Mitch McConnell (29%) are especially low. Perhaps they would improve if they could come up with something better than a spending freeze.

There is a small cadre of devoted right-wingers who continued to support Bush and his clique even after the Iraq war proved a horrific mistake, even after the terrible mistakes of Katrina, Abu Graib, and global warming, and even after the economy tanked. People used to talk about a “Yellow Dog Democrat” as someone who would vote for a yellow dog rather than for a Republican. Well, that tight-knit group of die-hard, right-wing Republicans would fit that description. They are the core of those 30% approval ratings that Bush got even though he will go down as one of the worst presidents in American history. They would vote even for Sarah Palin!

The thing that is exciting is that many people who voted for McCain now support President Obama. The President has gone from 52% election victory in November,
2008, to 66% approval rating now. That obviously reflects the switching of support by many independent voters, but it also demonstrates that many moderate Republicans are getting behind the President.

One area where Obama has already achieved enormous benefits for America is in world affairs. He was internationally acclaimed for his leadership at the G-20 summit in London. He has been treated like a rock star in Canada and Europe, with huge turnouts of screaming, excited fans. European leaders and citizens see him as a welcome change from the intransigence and short-sightedness of the Bush Administration. A 2009 Gallup Poll found that 67% of Americans believe that world leaders respect Obama, compared with just 24% who said this about Bush a year ago.
How is President Obama doing? Just fine.