Obama climbs to 60 percent approval in final presidential approval rating, Post-ABC poll finds
Obama climbs to 60 percent approval in final presidential approval rating, Post-ABC poll finds
By Scott Clement, Emily Guskin The Washington Post
Barack Obama leaves office Friday with six-in-10 Americans approving of his job performance, capping a steady rise that vaults him above the average final mark for modern presidents, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.
Obama's high-note finish comes with plenty of dissonance, including persistent pessimism about the nation's direction and deep divisions after Donald Trump's victory in last year's presidential race after campaigning strongly against Obama's policies.
Yet Americans grew significantly more positive about Obama's presidency through the acidic 2016 campaign as perceptions of the economy improved.
The president's approval ratings were underwater in July 2015, when 45 percent approved and 50 percent disapproved of his performance. But his overall approval grew a steady 50 percent by January of 2016, and rose again to 56 percent in June, never falling below the mid-50s through the fall campaign.
The latest Post-ABC poll shows Obama hitting 60 percent approval with 38 percent disapproving — his highest mark since June of his first year in office, when 65 percent approved of him. The latest poll finds 61 percent approve of Obama's handling of the economy, while a smaller 53 percent approve how he has handled the threat of terrorism and 52 percent rate him positively for handling health care.
READ MORE: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/oba...
By Scott Clement, Emily Guskin The Washington Post
Barack Obama leaves office Friday with six-in-10 Americans approving of his job performance, capping a steady rise that vaults him above the average final mark for modern presidents, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.
Obama's high-note finish comes with plenty of dissonance, including persistent pessimism about the nation's direction and deep divisions after Donald Trump's victory in last year's presidential race after campaigning strongly against Obama's policies.
Yet Americans grew significantly more positive about Obama's presidency through the acidic 2016 campaign as perceptions of the economy improved.
The president's approval ratings were underwater in July 2015, when 45 percent approved and 50 percent disapproved of his performance. But his overall approval grew a steady 50 percent by January of 2016, and rose again to 56 percent in June, never falling below the mid-50s through the fall campaign.
The latest Post-ABC poll shows Obama hitting 60 percent approval with 38 percent disapproving — his highest mark since June of his first year in office, when 65 percent approved of him. The latest poll finds 61 percent approve of Obama's handling of the economy, while a smaller 53 percent approve how he has handled the threat of terrorism and 52 percent rate him positively for handling health care.
READ MORE: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/oba...
How Obama's ratings stack up historically
Obama's final job approval mark is well above the 50 percent average for presidents from Franklin Roosevelt onward, and nearly twice as large as his immediate predecessor George W. Bush's 33 percent approval as he left office in 2009.