Latest Gallup poll shows President Obama still enjoys high approval rating

[BirminghamExaminer]

Excerpt:

According to a Gallup poll released today, President Barack Obama has an average approval rating of 65% so far for the month of May.

Obama's approval rating has remained very consistent since he took office in January. It has ranged from a high of 66% to a low of 62%. Only three presidents since World War II have had higher approval ratings in May of their first year in office.

President Obama has fared better than his most recent predecessors, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The month of May in a president's first year is typically considered part of the "honeymoon" phase. The only presidents since WWII to dip below 60% in the first five months in office were Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

President Obama faces a challenging year however. He will try to pass health care reform legislation. He must complete a plan to close Guantanamo Bay before Congress will pass a budget for the project. He is facing rising deficits from two wars (Iraq and Afghanistan) and increasing tensions with North Korea. Any or all of these issues may affect his approval ratings as the year moves forward.

Former Vice-President Dick Cheney has been giving frequent interviews criticizing President Obama. Radio and television entertainers like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck have produced a great deal of negative hyperbole over the airwaves. Elected Republican officials have worked hard to oppose the president in every effort he has undertaken since coming into office. To date, it is clear that none of these ploys has worked to taint President Obama as he continues to enjoy a high approval rating among American voters.

Read the entire article here.

[lamp_shade]

1. Oy! That's gonna piss a lot of people off.

:popcorn:

[SkyDaddy7]

2. From what I have been reading...

Many of those who may be pissed are right here on DU!

[lamp_shade]

6. You caught my drift.

[bluestateguy]

3. Yuou just have to say thank God that this man is the president

nt

[Historic NY]

4. I had some Repuke tell me he is killing the little guy yesterday...

I guess he means the rich fat cats.

[Buzz Clik]

5. You mean his 2% approval rating at DU is not representative of reality?

What a shock.

[BirminghamExaminer]

7. I had hoped for more

And I still have hope. There is no magic wand that President Obama can wave to right all the wrongs.

While I have been disappointed in some things that Obama has done and or not done, I feel like I can breathe again after the long dark tunnel of the previous 8 years.

I am disappointed that Obama hasn't been inclined to go after Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush for war crimes. But I also understand how doing so might be both distracting and expensive in the form of political capital. That is reality.

I am also dismayed by the 'preventative detention' people have talked about so much but I don't think that will happen. The hue and cry over the issue is a good thing because it will hopefully have an impact on Obama's decisions about what to do with the detainees.

I am concerned about Afghanistan too.

But my first concern before the election and today is the economy. My second concern is related to the first and is about health care reform.

Obama cannot single handedly save the world. If I must choose the battles to be fought, I would put the economy and health care reform on the shortest list.

Let's not forget that Obama has already accomplished a lot in his short five months in office. I saw my first ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) sign last weekend, concrete evidence that something is happening, that change is afoot.

We have a president who can string words together to make a sentence. We have a president who is smart and has done a lot to restore our standing in the world. I'm not trying to be an apologist for Obama, but rather a realist. Change is coming. It has already come. Our expectations for Obama were exceptional but so too, perhaps is our criticism. I was never under the impression that Obama was liberal. After 8 years of the "have mores" Obama's centrism is welcome relief.