According to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, President Barack Obama is enjoying remarkably high levels of optimism and confidence among Americans about his leadership. This provides him with substantial political capital as he confronts the nation’s economic carnage and opposition from nearly all Republicans in Congress.
A majority of people surveyed in both political parties said Mr. Obama was striving to work in a bipartisan way, faulting Republicans for their response to the president, saying the GOP objected to the $787 billion economic stimulus plan for political reasons. Most said Mr. Obama should pursue the priorities he campaigned on rather than seek middle ground with Republicans.
Americans are under no illusions that the country’s problems will be resolved quickly, but the poll suggested that they will be patient when it comes to the economy, with most saying it would be years before significant improvement.
A month into Mr. Obama’s term, with his first big accomplishments, setbacks and political battles behind him, more than three-quarters of the people polled said they were optimistic about the next four years with him as president. Similar percentages said that they thought he was bringing real change to the way things were done in Washington and that they had confidence in his ability to make the right decisions about the economy.
The aura of good will surrounding Mr. Obama at this stage of his presidency is similar to the one that benefited Ronald Reagan as he led the nation out of economic gloom.
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