Osama bin Laden killing gives Obama quick but limited ratings boost (+9%)

[onehandle]

Source: Washington Post

In the immediate aftermath of the targeted killing of Osama bin Laden, President Obama’s approval rating has jumped higher, with big increases in the number of Americans giving him high marks on dealing with terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan.

But the new poll, conducted Monday evening by The Washington Post and the Pew Research Center, also finds virtually no movement in Obama’s numbers when it comes to handling the economy. That suggests that success on one front — even one as important as the death of the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — might not translate easily to other areas.

Overall, 56 percent of those polled say they approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president, an increase of nine percentage points over April polls by Post-ABC News and Pew. That is the highest approval rating for the president in either poll since 2009.

There’s also been a clear increase in public satisfaction with the way things are going in the United States, although by a margin of nearly 2-1, Americans are still dissatisfied with the direction of the country.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/osama-bin-laden-killing-gives-obama-quick-but-limited-ratings-boost/2011/05/03/AFhxjegF_story.html

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Kinda small, but it's one quick poll. I think he will gain a little more as the week passes and more polls are taken.

[Teaser]

1. Kinda small?

This is his upside. There's a hard core of 40-43% of the country who are set in stone hating him. But he has hard support of 45-50%.
So it's a good place to be at.

[onehandle]

5. I was expecting 20+ overnight. I'll be surprised if it doesn't get there and then some. nt

[Teaser]

6. doubt you'll see that.

attitudes are just too hardened.

[Tx4obama]

2. Wash Post/Pew/SRBI --- 52/38 (+18)

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval-1044.html

[JaneQPublic]

3. U.S. public won't give a big bump until...

...the gas prices and unemployment rates go down.

All politics really is local.

[movonne]

4. I'm sure he has something up his sleeve to get the gas prices down...I

don't know if there is much he can do about the unemployment rates...

[karynnj]

7. Love the way they diminish this very large gain - this is definately not a small gain

Considering that he had already had approval of 47% - that left only 53% to get - he got one in six of the people against him on the question of whether they approve of how he is doing his job as President.

Put another way, if the election were next month, 47% would be a cause for worry, though he would still have some real shot of winning. (Some of the 53% not approving might approve of republicans less) However, 56% would be possible landslide territory.

I don't know if you can expect more of a shift than this, but an incredible speech - and Obama has given many an incredible speech that actually reaches people with some message could cement at least some of this gain.

The main caution is that this is a year and a half early. There is much to happen in the interim. One key will likely be what he chooses as the mission in Afghanistan and if he can either leave Afghanistan and Iraq or move them to a less deadly, less expensive situation. Of course, the other major thing will be the economy and what is done with things like Medicare.

I hope that these increased numbers give Obama more strength to push back anything Ryan ever comes up with.

(One possible reaction to what was an obvious boost for Obama was a bizarre comment by Scott Brown that he was going to Afghanistan - said to the Boston Globe. He then put out a statement that said he was asking that his 2 weeks of training in Afghanistan. The fact that he did this early in the morning - hours after Obama spoke is super weird timing and reeks of grandstanding. Could it be that if Obama is at 56% nationwide, he is likely well into the 60s in MA - balancing out places like Texas and Idaho?

However, the reaction is weird - it is just 2 weeks. The state's senior Senator likely spent more than two weeks time in Afghanistan in multiple trips in the last two years - and he was critical to getting Karzai to honor the election - rather than a burden, which Brown would be as they need to keep him safe.

[Zoeisright]

8. How the fuck do they know it's "limited"?

Or is that an admission that they only report on bad news in this area?

If that had been Bush the Dumber with a 9 point gain, the headlines would have been "Bush's popularity soars".

Fuckers.

[groundloop]

9. Bad timing though - from a political standpoint this should have waited 'till next September

I've been wondering if this had come down while W was still in office would Rove had instructed our special forces to hold off until a month or two before the elections.

(Plus, I'm a little bummed that with the news of this raid all talk of The Donald getting owned at the White House Correspondent's dinner has disappeared.)

[Adsos Letter]

10. Strictly in terms of politics, maybe...but can you imagine the recoil if it

became known that the US had the info, but delayed acting for political gain.