WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has received strong grades for his first full month in office, as large majorities of Americans support his $787 billion economic stimulus package and the recently unveiled $75 billion plan for stemming mortgage foreclosures, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Nearly seven in 10 believe Obama is delivering on his pledge to bring needed change to Washington, the poll found, and about eight in 10 say he is meeting or exceeding their expectations. At the same time, however, the bipartisan support he enjoyed as he prepared to take office has eroded substantially.
Just 37 percent of Republicans now approve of how he has done his job, a sharp drop from a month ago when 62 percent gave him good marks for his handling of the transition. Also, nearly seven in 10 Americans oppose making $14 billion in new loans to automakers General Motors and Chrysler.
Almost all Americans consider the size of the federal budget deficit to be a problem, with nearly six in 10 “very concerned” about it. But even so, most — 63 percent — said additional federal action will be needed to improve the economy.
Overall, 68 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s job performance, a finding that puts him on par with the average for the past eight presidents at this point in their tenures. Ninety percent of Democrats and 67 percent of independents approve of Obama’s job performance.
The phone poll of 1,001 adults was taken Thursday through Sunday and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points; error margins are higher for subgroups. The Washington Post
