Friday, October 30, 2009

A United (What?) states of America - Fox News Poll: Americans Divided on Obama's Job Performance

(Fox News).Nearly a year after Barack Obama was elected president, Americans are divided over his performance.

According to a FOX News poll released Thursday, views are split over whether the president is meeting expectations and keeping promises — and if the country is better off under his administration.

Nearly half of Americans — 48 percent — say President Obama is meeting or exceeding expectations, down from 66 percent who thought so in March. At the same time, nearly half — 47 percent — say he is falling below their expectations — twice the number (23 percent) who thought his performance was sub par when polled in March 2009.

Forty-four percent of Americans say Obama is keeping more promises than he is breaking. Almost as many — 39 percent — think the president is breaking more promises.

Half of Americans approve of the overall job Obama is doing and 41 percent disapprove.

Fifty-six percent of voters are satisfied with what Obama has accomplished so far, down from 69 percent in April. Nearly all Democrats are satisfied (90 percent), as are over half of independents (55 percent) and 19 percent of Republicans.

While 42 percent of Americans think the country is better off today than it was a year ago, 43 percent say the country is worse off.

The poll results show a significant partisan divide. Seventy percent of Democrats think the country is better off today, while 72 percent of Republicans say things are worse. Independents are nearly evenly divided with 40 percent saying it's "better off" and 41 percent saying it's "worse off."

In addition, more people say they personally are worse off financially (41 percent) than say they are better off compared to last year (27 percent). One-third of Americans say their financial situation hasn't changed (33 percent).

By a wide 58 percent to 18 percent margin, the public continues to blame former President George W. Bush for the current state of the economy rather than Obama.

On the effectiveness of the economic stimulus and spending plan, sentiments are evenly split — 48 percent think it has been effective, while 50 percent disagree.

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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" (Churchill)