marist-poll

Obama’s Approval Rating Rises After U.S. Health-Care Overhaul, Poll Shows

by on March 31, 2010

By Chris Dolmetsch March 31 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama ’s approval rating moved higher after Congress passed the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. health-care policy in more than four decades, his key domestic legislative goal, a poll released today showed. The Marist Poll found that 46 percent of registered voters approve of the job Obama is doing, up from 44 percent in a survey conducted in early February. Forty-three percent disapprove of his performance compared with 47 percent last month. Obama’s standing also rose among voters who describe themselves as independent, with 39 percent saying they approve of the job he is doing compared with 29 percent last month. Forty-five percent disapproved of his performance, down from 57 percent last month. “President Obama has scored a big legislative victory, but this has only translated minimally into his job performance scores,” Lee M. Miringoff , director of the Poughkeepsie, New York-based Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said in a statement . “For many voters, he still needs to swish a few three-pointers to become a driving force behind this fall’s midterm elections.” The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act put in motion the largest expansion of health-care coverage since the creation in 1965 of Medicaid, for the poor, and Medicare, for people 65 and older and the disabled. Obama signed the law on March 23 and yesterday signed a companion measure to fully enact the measure. Central Issue The law, with some provisions taking effect this year, is likely to shape Obama’s presidency and be a central issue in November’s elections to determine control of Congress. It was enacted without a single Republican vote. Obama’s approval rating rose to 50 percent from 48 percent in the latest daily tracking poll conducted by Washington-based Gallup , while his disapproval rating fell to 43 percent from 44 percent. A Bloomberg National Poll conducted earlier this month found 50 percent of voters approved of the job the president is doing, down from 54 percent in December, while 45 percent disapproved, up from 41 percent. The Marist Poll survey of 860 registered voters was conducted by telephone on March 25, 26 and 29 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net .

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Obama’s Approval Rating Rises After U.S. Health-Care Overhaul, Poll Shows

Obama Gets Negative Job-Performance Rating From Most Independents in Poll

by on February 8, 2010

By Chris Dolmetsch Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — More than half of U.S. voters who describe themselves as independents disapprove of President Barack Obama ’s job performance for the first time since he took office in January 2009, according to a poll released today. The Marist Poll found that 57 percent of independent voters don’t approve of Obama’s job performance, up from 44 percent in a Dec. 8 survey . Twenty-nine percent of independents approve, down from 41 percent, and 14 percent said they were unsure. “If attracting independents and bipartisanship are the aim, then the president clearly has a lot of ground to cover in year two,” said Lee M. Miringoff , the director of Poughkeepsie, New York-based Marist College’s Marist Institute of Public Opinion, in a statement. Obama is urging Democrats and Republicans to work together to end the impasse over U.S. health-care reform. Yesterday he invited lawmakers from the House and Senate in both parties to a Feb. 25 meeting to discuss ways to get an overhaul of the health-care system through Congress. Forty-four percent of all voters approve of Obama’s job performance, down from 46 percent in the Dec. 8 poll, while 47 percent disapprove, up from 44 percent. Eighty-one percent of Democrats said they approve, while 80 percent of Republicans said they disapprove. The survey also found that 47 percent of voters said Obama has fallen below their expectations as president, up from 42 percent last month, while 42 percent said he’s met their expectations, down from 44 percent. Just 7 percent said Obama has exceeded their expectations, down from 9 percent. The poll was based on telephone interviews with 910 registered U.S. voters conducted from Feb. 1 to 3 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. To contact the reporters responsible for this story: Chris Dolmetsch at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net .

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Obama Gets Negative Job-Performance Rating From Most Independents in Poll