The FINANCIAL -- A new Harris Poll finds that most Americans have both good and bad feelings about President Obama.
On the one hand, most people believe that he is trying to put the country back on track (61%); and to bring about much needed change (60%); that he has made other countries feel better about this country (57%); that he provides a fresh outlook with new ideas (56%); is open, honest and trustworthy (54%); and is working for the people's best interests (51%).
At the same time, majorities also feel that he hasn't done much for us yet (61%); that he is spending too much and creating too much debt (61%); that he has not lived up to his campaign promises (60%); and spends too much time talking with not enough action (57%).
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,576 adults surveyed online between January 18 and 25, 2010 by Harris Interactive. The statements, with which we asked people to agree or disagree, were all derived from spontaneous replies to an open-ended question we asked about President Obama in another recent Harris Poll (November 2009).
While majorities of adults hold these positive and negative views of the president, one issue divides them; just over four in ten (43%) believe he is not changing things fast enough but almost as many (38%) think he is changing things too fast.
Unsurprisingly, Republicans are more likely to agree with the negative statements, and the Democrats to agree with the positive statements. A 47% plurality of Democrats think he is not changing things fast enough, while 60% of Republicans see he is moving too fast. However, substantial minorities of Republicans agree with the positive statements about the president, and substantial minorities of Democrats agree with the critical statements.
While Independents tend to have opinions that are not very different than those of all adults, they are slightly more critical of the president for not having done much yet (67%), for spending too much (69%), and for not living up to his campaign promises (68%)
Education strongly correlated with more positive opinions of Obama
The more education people have had, the more likely they are to have positive opinions of President Obama. For example, many more of those with post-graduate degrees than those with no college education believe the president is working for the best interests of the people (by 66% to 45%); that he is open, honest and trustworthy (by 70% to 49%); that he is trying to bring about much needed change (by 72% to 57%); and that he has made other countries feel better about the United States (by 76% to 51%).
So what?
1. These results show that, unlike President Clinton and President Bush, President Obama is not a strongly polarizing figure. Substantial minorities of Republicans agree with some of the positive statements about him, while substantial numbers of Democrats agree with most of the criticisms.
This suggests that attitudes to the president might change a great deal – up or down – in the future.
2. The correlation between education and positive attitudes to the president recalls Adlai Stevenson's reply, when told that most "thinking people" would vote for him, that he needed to win the votes of a majority.
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