Obama Approval Ratings High, His Party's Stimulus Bill Less So

February 9, 2009 5:39 PM | | Comments (0)

While a narrow majority of Americans supports Barack Obama's $819 billion stimulus plan, that number has slipped from 57 percent to 51 percent since early January, with opposition to it rising from 22 percent to 34 percent, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted Feb. 4-8. Republicans oppose it 64 percent to 24 percent while Democrats favor it 70 percent to 15 percent and independents by 49 percent to 36 percent.

Most of those opposed to the package (61 percent) think it will be ineffective, while 27 percent believe the price tag is too high and 9 percent say it represents "too much government."

A CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Feb. 7-8 had support for the bill at 54 percent to 45 percent.

Obama himself is more popular than his party's legislation. His job approval rating is 64 percent and 56 percent approves of his handling of the economy so far. George Bush's initial approval rating as president was 53 percent and Bill Clinton's was 56 percent.

Pew's approval rating for Obama generally squared with other polls. A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Jan. 30 - Feb. 1 had it at 64 percent and a CBS News poll conducted Feb. 2-4 put it at 62 percent. The one outlier was CNN/Opinion Research whose poll had Obama's approval rating at 76 percent.

Pew also reported these findings on the elements of Obama's positive image with the public:

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Categories: CBS News, Economy, Pew Research Center, Presidential

Tags: Obama, Stimulus

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