Gallup has just released their daily tracking poll, and it shows a net gain of four points since Friday. Just three days ago, Obama's approval/disapproval stood at 48/46. He now stands at 50/44.
This appears to reflect what was a very good news week for the President: his State of the Union Address, followed almost immediately by what was widely perceived to be an epic smackdown of Congressional Republicans on Friday.
More good news below the fold...
This comes on the heels of a Rasmussen bounce (diaried here) which shows Obama's "Presidential Approval Index" jumping 13 points in just the last four days:
35% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. That’s the highest level of strong approval for the President in more than seven months and reflects a significant bounce following the State-of-the-Union address.
The article goes on to note:
Putting it all together gives Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -4. That’s the President’s best Approval Index rating in months. In fact, he’s earned a better rating on only two days in the past six months...
It goes without saying that every administration closely follows the polls, so these results are potentially very good news. We can be assured that the White House is monitoring the President's approval ratings, and hopefully drawing the obvious correlation between the relatively tough message delivered in the SOTU (comparatively speaking, anyway) -- along with the firmer beatdown on Friday -- and the rapidly rising poll numbers.
It's no small feat to have a 50% approval rating (and a 35% strong approval rating) in the midst of a miserable economy with 10% of Americans unemployed. Obama's new populist message and tougher talk of the past two weeks is having an obvious positive effect on the public's perception of him. But even more importantly, I believe it's his more uncompromising stance with Republicans that is having the greatest effect. Let's hope that the White House is drawing the correct conclusions.