April 7 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama is winning higher marks from Americans than the last three presidents early in their terms as he takes on a global recession, two wars and domestic fights over government spending, health care and taxes.
Obama’s approval rating climbed to a high of 66 percent in an April 1-5 New York Times/CBS News poll released today. The poll follows recent surveys by the Gallup Poll, Quinnipiac University and the Pew Research Center showing that about six out of 10 Americans approve of the job the president is doing.
A Gallup Poll taken in March gave Obama, a Democrat, a 64 percent approval rating. That compares with 56 percent for Republican George H.W. Bush, 52 percent for Democrat Bill Clinton and 53 percent for Republican George W. Bush at similar points in their presidencies. The last Bush left office with an approval rating of 34 percent, according to a Jan. 9-11 Gallup Poll.
“Bush’s popularity was so low it created an opportunity for Obama by contrast to win the hearts and minds of the country,” said Julian Zelizer, a history and public-affairs professor at Princeton University in New Jersey. “He has also consistently shown that magic quality that politician yearn for, the ‘it’ factor which leads people to like what you do.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=acPmZqN1.Lec&refer=homeDo they want cake with their whines and their teabags?