When President Bush will be leaving office in less than two weeks with a pretty dismal report card from Americans on where the U.S. gained and lost ground during his administration, according to a Gallup poll conducted Jan. 2-4

Out of 14 issues, there were only four on which at least a plurality of the public though ground had been gained - the effort to fight AIDS, race relations, national defense and terrorism. The "net" made progress number on these after subtracting those who thought the U.S. loss ground was 19 points on AIDS, 15 points on race relations and 3 points each on terrorism and defense. Eight-seven percent said the country lost ground on the economy and 57 percent said the U.S. position in the world had slipped. (See the New York Times story, In Global Battle on AIDS, Bush Creates Legacy).

There were predictably partisan differences. Two-thirds of Republicans agreed that ground had been lost on the economy, but that number was not as high as the 90 percent of Democrats who felt that way. The highest marks given Bush by his own party were the 54 percent that credited for gaining ground in the war on terrorism and 53 percent who said the same for defense. The only two areas where Bush was in positive numbers with Democrats was on AIDS (6 percent) and race relations (1 percent).

Is there a change these perceptions of Bush will change over time?

A CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted last month found that the image of two former Presidents who left office with low approval ratings had improved. Jimmy Carter's approval rating in December, 1980 was 34 percent but now 65 percent of the public sees him positively. George H. W. Bush's approval rating was 34 percent just before the 1992 election, rose to 56 percent in January 1993 and now stands at 60 percent.

Americans support Barack Obama's intention to move a large stimulus package, even as much as $800 billion, by 56 percent to 42 percent, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Dec. 19-21. Seventeen percent believe it will help the economy a lot and another 50 percent say it will help somewhat, while 31 percent believe it won't help much or at all.

Although the crisis in the financial industry generating much discussion about whether regulators and congressional oversight committees were asleep at the switch, Americans split at 39 percent each about whether overall there was too much or too little regulation of business and industry. Twenty percent said the amount of regulation was just right.

As Barack Obama prepares for the White House and Sarah Palin is being talked about in some quarters as the future of the Republican Party, several polls today suggest that Americans are optimistic about what Obama's first term will bring and far less enthusiastic about a Palin in their future.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Nov. 6-9 found that forty-nine percent of Americans have a favorable view of Sarah Palin compared to 43 percent who view her unfavorably. Just after the GOP convention, she had been viewed favorably by 57 percent of registered voters compared to about a quarter who viewed her unfavorably. Palin does better among men than with women, with her favorable to unfavorable ratio among men being 51 percent to 41 percent. Her favorability rating with women is 3 points lower.

"With fairly high negatives and lower support among women, who should be a natural constituency for Palin, she's not starting off from a position of strength," said CNN polling director Keating Holland.

However, just as in the campaign, Palin remains a hit with the Republican base with 86 percent viewing her favorably.

As Barack Obama prepares for the White House and Sarah Palin is being talked about in some quarters as the future of the Republican Party, several polls today suggest that Americans are optimistic about what Obama's first term will bring and far less enthusiastic about a Palin in their future.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Nov. 6-9 found that forty-nine percent of Americans have a favorable view of Sarah Palin compared to 43 percent who view her unfavorably. Just after the GOP convention, she had been viewed favorably by 57 percent of registered voters compared to about a quarter who viewed her unfavorably. Palin does better among men than with women, with her favorable to unfavorable ratio among men being 51 percent to 41 percent. Her favorability rating with women is 3 points lower.

"With fairly high negatives and lower support among women, who should be a natural constituency for Palin, she's not starting off from a position of strength," said CNN polling director Keating Holland.

However, just as in the campaign, Palin remains a hit with the Republican base with 86 percent viewing her favorably.

Here's what some of the last national polls of the campaign are saying:

Barack Obama is leading John McCain 50 percent to 43 percent among likely voters with 2 percent preferring someone else and 5 percent undecided in a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted Nov. 1-2. The margin of error is 3 points. Among all registered voters, Obam's lead is 48 percent to 43 percent. The last Fox poll in late October put Obama's lead at only 3 points.

Obama is leading McCain 53 percent to 42 percent among likely voters with 2 percent preferring neither or someone else and 3 percent undecided in a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Oct. 3`1 - Nov.2. The margin of error is 2 percent. Among all registered voters, Obama's lead is 53 percent to 40 percent.

Gallup says: "The trend data clearly show Obama ending the campaign with an upward movement in support, with eight to 11 percentage point leads among likely voters in Gallup's last four reports of data extending back to Oct. 28. Obama's final leads among both registered voters and likely voters are the largest of the campaign."

The final Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted Nov. 1-2 had Obama leading 51 percent to 43 percent among likely voters with 6 percent undecided. The margin of error is 3.1 percent.

"The poll shows some slight movement for McCain. But with just 48 hours left, it's going to be a challenge to make up the rest of the difference," said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster who conducts the survey with Democrat Peter D. Hart.

Obama holds a 49 percent to 42 percent lead over McCain among likely voters in a Pew Research Center survey conducted Oct. 29 - Nov. 1. One percent each favored Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr and 7 percent were undecided. While Obama's margin is still significant, he had led by 15 percent in the Pew poll conducted Oct. 23-26. Among all registered voters, Obama's lead is 50 percent to 39 percent compared to 52 percent to 36 percent in the previous survey.

Obama is leading McCain 53 percent to 46 percent among likely voters in the final CNN/Opinion Research poll before Election Day. The poll was conducted Oct. 30 - Nov. 1 and has a margin of error of 3.5 points.

The snap polls of reaction to the debate seem to agree: Barack Obama won again.

Fifty-eight percent of debate watchers said that Obama did the best job in the debate compared to 31 percent for John McCain, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll. The debate caused favorable opinions of Obama to rise slightly from 63 percent at the start to 66 percent, while McCain's slipped 51 percent to 49 percent.

Obama expressed his views more clearly than McCain in the opinion of viewers, who chose Obama by 66 percent to 25 percent. Obama came across as the stronger leader by 23 points and more likable by 48 points.

Although the town hall-style format is one that John McCain has used to great success Barack Obama came out on top in last night's debate, according to polls by CNN/Opinion Research and CBS News.

In CNN's poll, debate-watchers said by 54 percent to 30 percent that Obama did the best job. By 54 percent to 43 percent, they said Obama came across as the stronger leader and 65 percent found him more likable compared to 28 percent for McCain.

"McCain's advantage on leadership shrunk from 19 points in September to just five points this weekend," said CNN polling director Keating Holland said. "If Obama can use this debate to convince Americans that he is a stronger leader than McCain, he may be difficult to defeat."

Most of the new national polls released today are all good news for Barack Obama, although one survey has the race tighter than the others.

Obama has opened up a 53 percent to 45 percent lead over John McCain among likely voters in a CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Oct. 3-5. The margin of error is 3.5 points. CNN's mid-September poll had Obama ahead by 4 points.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted Oct. 4-5 has Obama ahead by 49 percent to 43 percent. The margin of error is 3.8 percent. Two weeks ago, this survey gave Obama a 2 point lead.

A CBS News poll conducted Oct. 3-5 has Obama ahead 48 percent to 45 percent among likely voters with 5 percent undecided. The margin of error is 3 points.

A George Washington University Battleground Poll conducted Sept. 30 - Oct .2 had Obama leading McCain 50 percent to 43 percent with 7 percent undecided. The margin of error is 3.5 percent

Fifty-one percent of those who watched the debate said that Joseph Biden did the best job, compared to 36 percent for Sarah Palin, according to a CNN poll. The margin of error is 4 points. Debate-watchers also though Biden showed himself to be the more intelligent by a 57 percent to 26 percent margin.

Based on what they heard, voters said by 53 percent to 42 percent that Biden seemed more likely to bring change to Washington, even though he is a 35 year veteran of the Senate.

Eighty-seven percent said Biden was qualified to be President compared to 46 percent for Palin.

In an almost-instant poll following the first presidential debate, Barack Obama emerged ahead of John McCain.

A CBS News/Knowledge Network poll of 500 uncommitted voters found that 40 percent thought Obama was the winner, 22 percent though McCain won and 38 percent called it a draw.

Forty-six percent of uncommitted voters said their opinion of Obama improved as a result of the debate.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll of people who had watched the debates said 51 percent thought Obama did the better job in Friday night's debate, while 38 percent said McCain did better.

Sixty percent of viewers said they thought McCain did better than they expected while 57 percent said the same of Obama. More than two-thirs said they believed either man was capable of handling the job of President.

Debate watchers gave Obama a 58 percent to 37 percent edge on which candidate would do a better job handling the economy and Obama bested McCain by a similar margin about who would better handle, in specific, the current financial crisis.

On McCain's forte (at least in most polls), national security, he led Obama only by 49 percent to 45 percent, which was with the poll's 4.5 point margin of error.

CNN polling director Keating Holland said, "The real test will come in a few days when we see whether support for Obama or McCain changes in polls involving all voters, not just debate watchers...(John) Kerry also won the third debate in 2004 with the same numbers that Obama got in tonight's poll, but his support dropped five points after that event."