AP-GfK poll: Obama approval hits 60 percent
Associated Press, May 11, 2011
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama's approval rating has hit
its highest point in two years 60 percent and more than
half of Americans now say he deserves to be re-elected, according to an
Associated Press-GfK poll taken after U.S. forces killed al-Qaida
leader Osama bin Laden.
In worrisome signs for Republicans, the president's standing improved
not just on foreign policy but also on the economy, and independents
a key voting bloc in the November 2012 presidential election
caused the overall uptick in support by sliding back to Obama
after fleeing for much of the past two years.
Comfortable majorities of the public now call Obama a strong leader who
will keep America safe. Nearly three-fourths 73 percent
also now say they are confident that Obama can effectively handle
terrorist threats. And he improved his standing on Afghanistan, Iraq
and the United States' relationships with other countries.
Despite a sluggish recovery from the Great Recession, 52 percent of
Americans now approve of Obama's stewardship of the economy, giving him
his best rating on that issue since the early days of his presidency;
52 percent also now like how he's handling the nation's stubbornly high
9 percent unemployment.
The economy remains Americans' top issue.
Impressions of the nation's fiscal outlook have improved following last
Friday's positive jobs report, which showed American companies are on a
hiring spree. More people now say that the economy got better in the
past month and that it's likely to continue doing so in the coming
year.
Also, more Americans 45 percent, up from 35 percent in March
say the country is headed in the right direction. Still, about
half 52 percent say it's on the wrong track, meaning Obama
still has work to do to convince a restive public to stay with the
status quo.
Some have seen enough to know they'll stick with him.
"I was happy about bin Laden," says Brenda Veckov, 42, of
Hollidaysburg, Pa. "I put my fists in the air. To me, it was just a
little bit of closure for the United States."
"The president made the right decisions on this one. And I will vote
for him again."
Not everyone has such an optimistic view of Obama.
"I'm very concerned" about the country, says Susan Demarest in
Snellville, Ga., 56, who didn't support the Democrat last time and
won't this time. "I'm in my 50s and I worry that I'm not going to be
able to retire at a reasonable age and enjoy the end of my life because
of Medicare and Social Security and the debt of the country." Still,
she says Obama doesn't carry all of the blame.
Obama's overall political boost comes at an important time. He is
embarking on his re-election campaign and is in the early days of a
debate with Republicans who control the House over raising the
country's debt limit. But it's unclear how long Obama's strengthened
standing will last in the aftermath of bin Laden's death.
Americans say they overwhelmingly approve of the military's handling of
the risky nighttime mission in Abbottabad, Pakistan. But it hasn't
changed public opinion on the war in Afghanistan; most still are
opposed to it, and a big majority favors Obama's plan to withdraw all
combat troops by 2014.
Overall, Obama's approval rating is up slightly from 53 percent in
March and a 47 percent low point following last fall's midterm
congressional elections, in which Republicans won control of the House
and gained seats in the Senate. It was 64 percent in May 2009, just
months after he was sworn into office.
The AP-GfK results were striking in that they found Obama with a higher
approval rating than other recent polls that generally said he was in
the low 50s. Polls often produce varying results because of differences
in question wording and polling methodology. Also, during periods when
public opinion about an issue is particularly volatile, and at times
when the public is being presented with rapidly changing information,
it is not uncommon to see wider variations across polls, even those
conducted around the same time.
Some conservatives criticized the AP-GfK poll as heavy with responses
from Democrats that skewed the results. AP-GfK polls use a consistent
methodology that draws a random sample of the population independent of
party identification. Such identification is not static and tends to
fluctuate over time along with other political opinions. However, the
change in party identification in the current AP-GfK current poll is
not a statistically significant shift from the previous poll in March
and could not by itself explain the poll findings.
In another finding, 53 percent in the latest poll say Obama deserves to
be re-elected, while 43 percent say he should be fired, the first time
in an AP-GfK poll that more people say he should get a second term than
not.
"I have the impression that Barack Obama works really hard for Americans
and that I see his leadership as something that should be continued,"
says independent voter Allison Kaplan, 25, in Austin, Texas, who voted
for him in 2008. She praises the administration for handling bin Laden's
raid well "the way that it happened was the correct way" and
it reinforced her support of the president.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans who call themselves political
independents now approve of him; only about half did in March. They were
critical to his 2008 victory but many had fled as his administration
increased government spending and passed a sweeping health care
overhaul. They could just as easily turn away again between now and next
fall.
Bryan Noonan, 23, of Hampstead, N.H., is one of those independents. He
backed Obama in 2008 and is likely to vote for the president again,
given the other options.
"I haven't been real impressed by the Republicans," he says. He doesn't
hold Obama accountable for the sluggish economy or rising gas prices,
issues Noonan says seem "out of his hands. It's not like there's a magic
solution."
Noonan likes Obama's foreign policies and applauds the killing of bin
Laden, saying: "I was pretty much relieved, happy to hear that we got
him. The president absolutely deserves credit."
Among the poll's other findings:
Sixty-nine percent say Obama will keep America safe, up from 61
percent in March; 65 percent call him a "strong leader," up from 57
percent.
Sixty-three percent say Obama cares about people like them; 63
percent also say that he understands the problems of ordinary
Americans.
Sixty-three percent view Obama favorably, up from 59 percent in
March.
Still, his re-election is far from certain. And there are warning signs
in the poll.
_Nearly two-thirds of people 61 percent disapprove of his
handling on gas prices, even though there's little a president can do
about them.
_Less than half give him positive marks on dealing with the federal
budget deficit or taxes, two big upcoming issues.
The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted May 5-9 by GfK Roper Public
Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone
interviews with 1,001 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling
error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
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