Poll after poll after poll after poll, we see the same thing. This time, it's CBS/NY Times (MoE +/- 3): Obama's job approval is 66% and
By contrast, Republican fortunes have dropped in the first weeks of the Obama presidency; just 31 percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the Republican Party, the lowest in the 25 years the question has been asked in New York Times/CBS News polls.
The aggregate measure of all the polls is here from pollster.com:
Buoyed by his European trip and G-20 performance, as well as perceptions about the economy, Obama is on the upswing. And note in the CBS/NY Times poll that 56% think Obama's budget has the right priorities, and 74% like the idea of taxing those making more than 250K.
The right track/wrong track, our measure of choice to take the country's temperature is up as well, despite major concerns about jobs and the economy.
For all that, the number of people who think the country is heading in the right direction has jumped from 15 percent in mid-January, just before Mr. Obama took office, to 39 percent today, while the number who think it is heading in the wrong direction has dropped from 79 to 53 percent. That is the highest percentage of Americans who said the country is heading in the right direction since February of 2005, the second month of the second term of former President George W. Bush.
The public's sentiment is crystal clear from the above graph: things were bad in October but have gotten steadily better since the election (regardless of how unhappy some Republicans are.)
And, in terms of patience, the public has it even if the media does not. In fact, though you won't hear it from the media very much, the public blames George Bush for this mess, and not Obama.
With the poll finding that an overwhelming number think the recession will last a year or more, Mr. Obama may find he has an unusually deep well of patience to draw on. The poll found that Mr. Obama shoulders virtually none of the public blame for the economic crisis: 33 percent blame Mr. Bush, 21 percent blame financial institutions, and 11 percent blame Congress.
Regular readers will not be surprised (see Weekly Tracking Poll: Right Track Continues To Improve.) Obama scores between 56-59 each on handling foreign affairs, Iraq, Afghanistan and the economy. Congress, otoh, gets a 26. And health care (with a score of 35) comes in second to the economy as an issue to tackle, followed by education, social security and energy.
On the economy, the public favors Obama over Congressional Republicans 63-20. On keeping the nation safe, it's Obama 61-27. And if you ask the public "who is more concerned with needs and problems of people like you?" it's Democrats 57-22 over the GOP (25 year best). Also, Obama cares more for ordinary people than large corporations by 71-17.
As you might expect, the one thing people don't like is the bailouts to bankers. There's 58% disapproval for "financial aid to the banking industry".
However, Obama's auto industry proposals are approved of by 47-38, the first we've seen some sympathy for Detroit (or maybe it's just satisfaction over the new definition of corporate head-hunting.) When asked either about whether auto aid is important "for saving jobs" (49 very and 31 somewhat) or about "correcting mismanagement" (31 very important, 36 somewhat), the same question gets more support for saving jobs.
On health care, poll respondents are fairly evenly divided on whether health reform would help (34) or hurt (37) the economy, and right now are more concerned about providing for the uninsured (54) than cost (40). When asked if they'd pay higher taxes to insure health care you can't lose, 57% are willing (38% not).
All in all, and there's no way to avoid it, this poll is good news for John McCain. I expect the media to report it as such.