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Dublin: 12 °C Saturday 25 May, 2013

Barack Obama’s approval rating hits three-year high

The inauguration seems to have given Obama a bit of a bounce – he is seen as ‘favourable’ by 60 per cent of voters.

Image: Charles Dharapak/AP

A NEW OPINION POLL in the United States has shown that President Barack Obama is at his most popular for three years.

The poll commissioned by ABC News and the Washington Post shows that Obama is seen as ‘favourable’ by 60 per cent of voters, with his disapproval ratings falling to 37 per cent.

The findings will offer some encouragement to Obama as he begins his second week of his second term in office, and begins to piece together his cabinet for his second stint at the helm of the world’s most powerful country.

While Obama’s disapproval ratings remain considerable, the Washington Post said the poll marked a “clear shift” from his polling rankings throughout 2012, when his approval stood in the mid-to-low 50s.

It added that Obama had also interrupted a two-year series of poll results where those who held ‘strongly unfavourable’ views were equal to, or greater than, the numbers who were ‘strongly favourable’.

39 per cent held the latter opinion in the new poll, while 26 per cent held ‘strongly unfavourable’ opinions.

The surge is probably directly attributable to Obama’s reinauguration last week, with 51 per cent of respondents the poll saying they approved of the speech, while only 24 per cent disapproved of it.

Obama’s approval rating was at its highest shortly after he first took office in January 2009, when 79 per cent of voters saw him favourably, while only 19 per cent were unfavourable toward him.

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Comments (17 Comments)

  • I live in the states and I think he’s a great president. Voted for him twice!! I believe that he is tolerant and accepting. And I agree with his ideas on change and moving forward. America NEEDS change. I think he’s a strong leader, dignified, and honest. Call me a fool if ya wish, but I actually BELIEVE my president now and truly think he was/is the best man for the job. We all have the right to our opinions and I’m just one American stating mine ;)

    Reply
    • Me too. I didn’t originally want him as President in 2008 but I rather him be President over Romney or the other morons.

      Reply
    • What makes him a great president:
      1,the fact that he deported more people than any other president,
      2.the fact that his justice department just sentenced a whistle blower on U.S. torture
      to 30 months in jail while nobody who actually commited the torture has ever been charged.
      3.the fact he treated Bradley Manning like a piriah for realeasing information about
      illegal activities the U.S. goverment was involved in.
      4.the fact he went after Aaron Scwartz in court even after M.I.T. had dropped all charges
      Aaron sadly commited suicide last week due to the witch hunt.
      5.the fact that his latest nomination as Banks Tsar has said publically she will not persue
      any of the banks that crashed the worlds economy
      6.the fact that during his first term he allowed the republican congress to slap him
      around to the stage of t to liberals in embarrassment own party.
      7.the fact that he is willing to allow cuts to social programes while still allowing the corporate
      world to make the largest margin of profits in 50 years
      8.the fact that he oversees the drone strikes in foreign countries that include many women
      and children including U.S. citizens without trial
      9.the fact he promised to close Guantanimo Bay but instead has increased the amount of
      detainees
      10.the fact that Obama tries to come across as a liberal when he clearly a conservative
      But besides that, he’s a great president!!!

      Reply
    • Seriously? I’m not saying he’s great or otherwise, but at least half of your list has absolutely nothing to do with him! And a lot of the rest is beyond his power to change. The rest….? I’m sure you understand how politics works right? And what makes drone strikes any worse then all the other ordnance the US military uses to kill its enemies?

      Reply
    • He is definitely no conservative! His social issues are very liberal indeed. On the home front, he has spent more on social programs than any president this century. He has cut our military to pre WW II levels. His ” czars” are unconstitutional as are his continued use of force without congressional approval – but he lets someone in Benghazi get murdered. Horrid pres.

      Reply
  • Well. I don’t live in the states. I can’t vote for him, but I just love him….! So there.

    Reply
  • I think he is a great President .

    Reply
  • What a load of P.R horsemanure he should be indicted for giving away America’s wealth to his masters in Wall Street.I would not believe that poll for a milisecond it is the U.S and they dont play straight in the media there either.

    Reply
  • tom 30/01/13 #

    Comes across well on TV here. Plus we don’t have to rediscover his Irish roots if he visits again :)

    Reply
  • That’s funny cos I never heard any one saying anything good about him

    Reply
  • Michael 31/01/13 #

    Oh I read that as unemployment not popularity.

    My bad

    Reply
  • Noble peace prize winner!! There is so much blood on this mans hands yet he’s the poster child of the free world…

    Reply
  • All American Presidents are puppets.. The Republicans have given him enough rope,….. we are all sleep walking into a very strange World of Islamic rule..

    Reply

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