Americans giving Barack Obama extraordinary support: polls

[LahoreEstate]

WASHINGTON: Barack Obama has attained extraordinarily high levels of public approval, according to opinion polls released on Sunday, ahead of his historic inauguration ceremony.

A survey conducted by The New York Times and CBS News found a section of the US public eager to give the president-elect a wide berth as he attempts to turn around a faltering US economy, tackle global warming, help solve the Middle East peace process, along with other challenges.

Seventy nine percent of the surveyed were optimistic about the next four years under Obama, the highest level of goodwill attained by any of the past five incoming presidents.

Most Americans told The Times they did not expect real improvement in the economy, reforms in health care or an end to the Iraq war – three of the central promises of the Obama campaign.

The poll found two-thirds of respondents thought the recession would last two years or longer.

By contrast, outgoing President George W Bush is leaving office with just 22 percent of Americans offering a favourable view of how he handled the eight years of his presidency, according to the poll.

More than 80 percent of the respondents said America was in worse shape today than it was five years ago. afp

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg7_5