(02/14/12) -

Obama Gains Two Points After State of the Union in U.S.

Congress continues to post a considerably lower rating, getting a positive review from less than one-in-five Americans.

Barack Obama has posted his best approval numbers in the United States since the summer of 2011, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative national sample of 1,004 American adults, 48 per cent of respondents (+2 since January) approve of the president’s performance, while 48 per cent (-1) disapprove.

This month, Obama garners his best marks in the Northeast (51%) and his lowest rating in the Midwest (45%).

The incumbent head of state has also slightly narrowed the gap in the comparison of strong disapproval and strong approval (30% to 17%).

The approval rating for the U.S. Congress edged forward to 16 per cent (+1). However, four-in-five Americans (79%, =) are still dissatisfied with the performance of their federal lawmakers.

Just two per cent of American respondents strongly approve of the House of Representatives and the Senate, while 45 per cent strongly disapprove.

This month, the worst rating for Congress is once again in the Northeast (12%) while the best is in the South (18%).

Analysis

The American president had been unable to have the same proportion of respondents approving and disapproving of his performance since August 2011, immediately after the U.S. credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s. Now, with nine months to go before the presidential election, Obama has continued on a slow but steady positive trend. While there is a slight jump on approval among Independent voters, Obama is still finding it hard to re-connect with this group.

The numbers for Congress are still predominantly negative, with a more forceful criticism from Republicans and Independents (48% in each group strongly disapprove of its actions) than Democrats (37%).

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:

Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com

Methodology: From February 10 to February 11, 2012, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,004 American adults who are Springboard America panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of the United States. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.