Obama’s Numbers After Two Months
Friday, March 20, 2009 Email to a FriendAdvertisement
The day after Barack Obama was elected president, 54% of voters nationwide expected government spending to go up during the Obama years. Now, after two months of the Obama administration, that number has jumped 18 percentage points to 72%.
That’s undoubtedly one reason the number who view the president’s politics as Very Liberal is up from 28% in late October to 44% today. Overall, 71% say Obama’s politics are at least somewhat liberal.
Rasmussen Reports tracking polls show that only 18% think their taxes will go down during the Obama presidency, while 31% expect a tax hike.
Still, 48% say the president is doing a good or excellent job when it comes to handling the economy. Only 30% say he’s doing a poor job. Currently, voters are evenly divided on the president’s $3.6 trillion budget proposal.
His ratings are a bit higher - 52% good or excellent - on national security issues. Fifty-one percent (51%) give him positive marks on energy issues.
Fifty-six percent (56%) rate the president good or excellent in terms of leadership. But just 39% say he's governing on a bipartisan basis, while 43% say he's acting like a partisan Democrat: Those numbers are reversed from shortly after his inauguration, although he's still seen as far less partisan than members of Congress from both parties.
All of these ratings and others are updated regularly at Obama By the Numbers.
Forty-eight percent (48%) believe the president generally views American society as fair and decent. Thirty-two percent (32%) think he sees society as generally unfair and discriminatory. Among all voters, 69% say society is generally fair and decent while 22% say it is unfair and discriminatory.
Forty-three percent (43%) say Obama is more ethical than most politicians, and another 29% say he’s about as ethical as his peers. Just 21% say Obama is less ethical than most. In terms of addressing the issues of ethics and reducing government corruption, 56% say the president is doing a good or excellent job.
Overall, the president’s job approval ratings have declined since Inauguration Day but remain generally positive. While his ratings have slipped a bit, consumer confidence is little changed from where it was when Obama took the oath of office on January 20.
Fifty percent (50%) of U.S. voters now say they are more worried that the government will do too much in reacting to the nation’s economic problems rather than not enough. That’s up slightly from 46% when Obama was elected last November.
On Election Night, the president almost certainly never expected to deal with issue like the AIG bonus debacle. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Americans believe that most of the bailout money is going to the people who created the crisis.
Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.
The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge™ Premium Service for Election 2008 offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a Presidential election.
Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.
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