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Public wary of Obama policies: NBC/WSJ and CBS/NYT polls
By: Michael Barone
Senior Political Analyst
06/18/09 6:50 PM EDT
For all the favorable coverage he’s gotten on mainstream media, Barack Obama seems to be having a hard time selling the American public on his policies. That’s the message that comes through loud and clear from the NBC/Wall Street Journal and CBS/New York Times polls made public today. Obama’s job approval is still high, though it’s down 5% from previous levels in both these polls. And on some policies he’s got majority or near-majority support.
But consider these findings from the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll:
● 69% say they have a great deal or quite a bit of concern about government ownership of General Motors and a 56%-35% majority opposes government aid to General Motors in return for a share of its stock
● 58% say the president and Congress should concentrate on keeping the budget deficit down, even if it takes longer for the economy to recover
● when presented with arguments for and against a government health insurance plan, it was favored by only a 47%-42% margin
● when asked the most important economic issue facing the country, 24% chose the budget deficit and only 11% chose health care
● a 52%-39% majority opposes closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay
Or consider these findings from the CBS/New York Times poll:
● when asked to volunteer the most important problem facing the country, 38% said the economy, 19% said jobs and 7% said health care
● only 44% approve Obama’s handling of health care, while 34% disapprove
● only 41% approve his handling of the problems facing the auto industry, while 46% disapprove
● by a 52%-41% margin they prefer reducing the budget deficit to stimulating the economy
● only 30% think Obama has developed a clear plan for dealing with the budget deficit, while 60% believe he hasn’t
I haven’t included some of the results that are more positive for Obama, and overall the polls are by no means devastating. But I do agree with the conclusion of my former boss, Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who with Republican Bill McInturff supervises the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll: “The public is moving from evaluating him as a charismatic and charming leader to his specific handling of the challenges facing the country.” He adds that Obama and Democrats “are going to have to navigate in pretty choppy waters.”
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