NEW YORK, May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With the news that the most wanted man in America had been killed by Navy Seals, President Obama had one reason to breathe a sigh of relief last week. Now, he has another as Americans seemed to rally around not only him but also feel better about the state of the country. Currently, just under half (46%) of U.S. adults give President Obama positive ratings on the overall job he is doing, a rise of eight points from last month when only 38% gave him positive marks. Just over half (54%) give the President negative ratings, down from 62% who did so last month. This is also the highest rating for the President since September of 2009 when almost half (49%) of Americans gave him positive ratings.
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These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,104 adults surveyed online between May 4 and 6, 2011 by Harris Interactive.
Democrats and Independents contribute the most to this rise. Over three-quarters of Democrats (77%) now give President Obama positive marks for his overall job approval, up from seven in ten (69%) last month. Among Independents, almost two in five (38%) give the President positive ratings up from three in ten (31%) in April. There is even a small rise among Republicans – in April, just 9% gave the President positive ratings; now, 12% do.
Congress also sees a small rise in their job ratings. Currently, just over one in ten Americans (13%) give the overall job Congress is doing positive ratings, up five points from last month when just 8% gave them positive marks. However, almost nine in ten (87%) still give them negative ratings.
The largest positive jump is in how the country overall is doing. In April, just one-quarter of Americans (26%) thought the country was heading in the right direction while 74% thought it was going off on the wrong track. Now, two in five U.S. adults (39%) say it is going in the right direction while 61% believe it is on the wrong track – a jump of 12 points.
So What?
The news from the White House late on Sunday, May 1st has caused many Americans to feel more positive about life in general and the way this country is going. This, in turn, translates into positive feelings about the President and even, albeit to a lesser extent, Congress. The question is does this hold or is it a temporary rise until something brings it back down. If the election were held today, the country is split on President Obama's re-election as 46% of Americans would be likely to vote for him and 47% would not be likely to do so. More than his approval ratings, these are the numbers the White House and re-election committee are watching closely.
TABLE 1 PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOB RATING - TREND "How would you rate the overall job President Barack Obama is doing?" Base: All adults |
||||||||||
2009 |
||||||||||
Mar |
April |
May |
June |
Aug |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
||
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
POSITIVE |
55 |
58 |
59 |
54 |
51 |
49 |
45 |
43 |
41 |
|
Excellent |
17 |
18 |
17 |
14 |
11 |
11 |
10 |
9 |
7 |
|
Pretty good |
38 |
40 |
42 |
39 |
39 |
38 |
35 |
33 |
33 |
|
NEGATIVE |
45 |
42 |
41 |
46 |
49 |
51 |
55 |
57 |
59 |
|
Only fair |
27 |
26 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
27 |
29 |
30 |
|
Poor |
18 |
15 |
16 |
21 |
24 |
26 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
|
2010 |
2011 |
|||||||||||||||
Jan |
Mar |
April |
May |
June |
Aug |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
April |
May |
||
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
POSITIVE |
40 |
41 |
41 |
42 |
39 |
40 |
38 |
37 |
38 |
36 |
44 |
42 |
39 |
38 |
46 |
|
Excellent |
9 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
6 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
8 |
7 |
10 |
11 |
8 |
7 |
12 |
|
Pretty good |
31 |
32 |
31 |
32 |
33 |
31 |
29 |
29 |
30 |
28 |
34 |
32 |
31 |
31 |
34 |
|
NEGATIVE |
60 |
59 |
59 |
58 |
61 |
60 |
62 |
63 |
62 |
64 |
56 |
58 |
61 |
62 |
54 |
|
Only fair |
30 |
28 |
26 |
28 |
29 |
26 |
28 |
30 |
29 |
31 |
28 |
29 |
29 |
27 |
26 |
|
Poor |
30 |
31 |
33 |
30 |
32 |
34 |
34 |
33 |
33 |
34 |
29 |
29 |
32 |
35 |
28 |
|
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding |
||||||||||||||||
TABLE 2 PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOB RATING – BY PARTY "How would you rate the overall job President Barack Obama is doing?" Base: All adults |
||||||||
Total |
Political Party |
|||||||
Republican |
Democrat |
Independent |
||||||
April |
May |
April |
May |
April |
May |
|||
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
POSITIVE |
46 |
9 |
12 |
69 |
77 |
31 |
38 |
|
Excellent |
12 |
2 |
1 |
14 |
23 |
4 |
8 |
|
Pretty good |
34 |
7 |
11 |
55 |
54 |
27 |
30 |
|
NEGATIVE |
54 |
91 |
88 |
31 |
22 |
69 |
62 |
|
Only fair |
26 |
25 |
30 |
24 |
16 |
29 |
34 |
|
Poor |
28 |
66 |
58 |
7 |
6 |
40 |
28 |
|
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding |
||||||||
TABLE 3 PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOB RATING – BY REGION, EDUCATION & GENDER "How would you rate the overall job President Barack Obama is doing?" Base: All adults |
|||||||||||
Total |
Region |
Education |
Gender |
||||||||
East |
Midwest |
South |
West |
H.S. or less |
Some college |
College grad+ |
Men |
Women |
|||
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
POSITIVE |
46 |
47 |
47 |
44 |
49 |
43 |
44 |
54 |
44 |
48 |
|
Excellent |
12 |
12 |
11 |
11 |
14 |
11 |
10 |
14 |
14 |
9 |
|
Pretty good |
34 |
35 |
36 |
33 |
35 |
32 |
34 |
40 |
30 |
39 |
|
NEGATIVE |
54 |
52 |
54 |
56 |
51 |
57 |
56 |
46 |
57 |
52 |
|
Only fair |
26 |
26 |
29 |
24 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
23 |
28 |
25 |
|
Poor |
28 |
26 |
25 |
32 |
25 |
30 |
28 |
23 |
29 |
27 |
|
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding |
|||||||||||
TABLE 4 CONGRESS' OVERALL JOB RATING "How would you rate the overall job Congress is doing?" Base: All adults |
|||||
Total |
Political Party |
||||
Rep. |
Dem. |
Ind. |
|||
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
POSITIVE |
13 |
7 |
18 |
11 |
|
Excellent |
1 |
- |
3 |
1 |
|
Pretty good |
12 |
7 |
15 |
10 |
|
NEGATIVE |
87 |
93 |
81 |
88 |
|
Only fair |
46 |
44 |
50 |
42 |
|
Poor |
41 |
49 |
31 |
46 |
|
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding |
|||||
TABLE 5 CONGRESS' OVERALL JOB RATING – TREND "How would you rate the overall job the Congress is doing?" Base: All adults |
||||
TREND |
Positive* |
Negative** |
||
% |
% |
|||
2011 |
May |
13 |
87 |
|
April |
8 |
92 |
||
March |
10 |
90 |
||
February |
14 |
86 |
||
January |
16 |
84 |
||
2010 |
December |
11 |
89 |
|
November |
13 |
87 |
||
October |
11 |
89 |
||
September |
13 |
87 |
||
August |
15 |
85 |
||
June |
14 |
86 |
||
May |
15 |
85 |
||
April |
16 |
84 |
||
March |
10 |
90 |
||
Jan. |
16 |
84 |
||
2009 |
Dec. |
17 |
83 |
|
Oct. |
16 |
84 |
||
Sept. |
19 |
81 |
||
Aug. |
22 |
78 |
||
June |
25 |
75 |
||
March |
29 |
71 |
||
2008 |
October |
10 |
86 |
|
August |
18 |
77 |
||
June |
13 |
83 |
||
February |
20 |
76 |
||
2007 |
December |
17 |
79 |
|
October |
20 |
77 |
||
April |
27 |
69 |
||
February |
33 |
62 |
||
2006 |
September |
24 |
73 |
|
May |
18 |
80 |
||
February |
25 |
71 |
||
January |
25 |
72 |
||
*Positive = excellent or pretty good. **Negative = only fair or poor. Note: Prior to March, 2009, this question was asked by telephone. |
||||
TABLE 6 RIGHT DIRECTION OR WRONG TRACK "Generally speaking, would you say things in the country are going in the right Base: All adults |
||||
TREND |
Right Direction |
Wrong Track |
||
% |
% |
|||
2011 |
May |
39 |
61 |
|
April |
26 |
74 |
||
March |
28 |
72 |
||
February |
36 |
64 |
||
January |
37 |
63 |
||
2010 |
December |
29 |
71 |
|
November |
33 |
67 |
||
October |
34 |
66 |
||
September |
36 |
64 |
||
April |
39 |
61 |
||
2009 |
August |
46 |
54 |
|
January |
19 |
72 |
||
2008 |
October |
11 |
83 |
|
February |
23 |
69 |
||
2007 |
December |
18 |
74 |
|
February |
29 |
62 |
||
2006 |
May |
24 |
69 |
|
February |
32 |
59 |
||
2005 |
November |
27 |
68 |
|
January |
46 |
48 |
||
2004 |
September |
38 |
57 |
|
June |
35 |
59 |
||
2003 |
December |
35 |
57 |
|
June |
44 |
51 |
||
2002 |
December |
36 |
57 |
|
June |
46 |
48 |
||
2001 |
December |
65 |
32 |
|
June |
43 |
52 |
||
2000 |
October |
50 |
41 |
|
June |
40 |
51 |
||
1999 |
June |
37 |
55 |
|
March |
47 |
45 |
||
1998 |
December |
43 |
51 |
|
June |
48 |
44 |
||
1997 |
December |
39 |
56 |
|
April |
36 |
55 |
||
1996 |
December |
38 |
50 |
|
June |
29 |
64 |
||
1995 |
December |
26 |
62 |
|
June |
24 |
65 |
||
1994 |
December |
29 |
63 |
|
June |
28 |
65 |
||
1993 |
June |
21 |
70 |
|
March |
39 |
50 |
||
1992 |
June |
12 |
81 |
|
January |
20 |
75 |
||
1991 |
December |
17 |
75 |
|
January |
58 |
32 |
||
TABLE 7 VOTING FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA "If the election for president were to be held today, how likely would you be to vote for the current president, Barack Obama?" Base: All adults |
||||||||
Total |
Political party |
Political Philosophy |
||||||
Rep. |
Dem. |
Ind. |
Cons. |
Mod. |
Lib. |
|||
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
Likely |
46 |
10 |
78 |
42 |
16 |
53 |
78 |
|
Very likely |
33 |
4 |
62 |
25 |
8 |
37 |
61 |
|
Somewhat likely |
14 |
6 |
17 |
17 |
8 |
16 |
17 |
|
Unlikely |
47 |
87 |
18 |
50 |
80 |
39 |
16 |
|
Somewhat unlikely |
7 |
7 |
4 |
9 |
5 |
8 |
4 |
|
Very unlikely |
40 |
79 |
14 |
41 |
75 |
30 |
12 |
|
Not at all sure |
6 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
4 |
8 |
6 |
|
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding |
||||||||
Methodology
This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between May 4 to 6, 2011 among 2,104 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.
The Harris Poll® #55, May 9, 2011
By Regina Corso, SVP, Harris Poll, Public Relations and Youth Research, Harris Interactive
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
Press Contact:
Corporate Communications
Harris Interactive
212-539-9600
[email protected]
SOURCE Harris Interactive
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