Obama's Ratings Little Affected by Recent Turmoil

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Obama's Ratings Little Affected by Recent Turmoil

Since the beginning of this year, President Obama has signed a controversial health care measure, coped with a stubbornly high jobless rate, and struggled to manage the largest environmental disaster in the nation's history. In that period, Obama's overall job approval rating has moved from 49% to 48%.

On major issues, ranging from the economy to Afghanistan, Obama's ratings also have changed little since the beginning of the year. He continues to get his highest ratings on foreign policy, energy policy, Afghanistan and Iraq; Obama gets his worst marks on the budget deficit and immigration.

His personal image, while not as strong as it was in January, remains generally positive. Fully 77% view him as a good communicator, while 68% see him as warm and friendly and 67% say he is well-informed. On the other hand, ratings for his ability to get things done (55%) and strong leadership (53%) are much lower. The proportion viewing him as a strong leader has declined markedly since February 2009, from 77% to 53%.

Despite these changes, bottom-line attitudes toward Obama's job performance have changed little in 2010. Nor has Obama's overall job approval been affected by increasing criticism of his handling of the situation in the Gulf of Mexico, which continues to dominate news coverage and the public's attention (see "Public Reacts Positively to Extensive Gulf Coverage," June 22, 2010).

Read the full report, Obama's Ratings Little Affected by Recent Turmoil on the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press' Web site.

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