Economy, bailouts take slight toll on Obama's approval rating

By Mark Silva

By Mark Silva

June 18, 2009

Reporting from Washington — Some of the most acute problems that President Obama confronts, including a struggling economy and mounting federal deficit, appear to be taking a moderate toll on his still-strong public approval after nearly five months in office, two new public opinion polls suggest.

One, a survey conducted for the New York Times and CBS News, found that a solid majority of Americans believed that Obama had not developed a strategy for dealing with runaway budget deficits.

The second, conducted for the Wall Street Journal and NBC News, found that the president faces challenges on several fronts, including increasing public concern about federal spending and the bailout of ailing automotive companies. A majority also voiced disapproval of Obama's determination to close within a year the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Taken together, these surveys suggest that Obama faces a limited amount of time to convince the public that he is taking the right courses and a finite period before the problems that he inherited become identified as his own political liabilities.

At the same time, the president's overall job approval remains strong, though it slid in the Journal-NBC survey.

Obama's overall public job approval stood at 63% in the New York Times-CBS survey, and 56% in the Wall Street Journal-NBC poll -- down from 61% in a Journal-NBC poll in April.

The public also appeared more optimistic about the nation's economic future in the Journal-NBC poll that it did a few weeks earlier -- with Americans still more likely to blame the George W. Bush administration for a federal deficit expected to reach a record $1.8 trillion this year. Obama pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of his four-year term.

Most Americans also said the president has taken on a wide array of issues because he faces so many problems, according to the Journal-NBC poll, with just 37% saying he has taken on too many issues.

The surveys suggest concern about the direction that some of Obama's policies could be taking the nation.

Nearly seven in 10 surveyed by pollsters Peter Hart and Bill McInturff for the Journal and NBC voiced concern about federal intervention in the economy, including the president's decision to take a majority stake in the ownership of General Motors Corp.

The New York Times-CBS survey found "a distinct gulf" between Obama's overall standing and how some of his key initiatives are viewed. Fewer than half of those surveyed approved of how Obama was handling healthcare or the financial crises at GM and Chrysler.

Most said the president's policies have had either no effect yet on the economy or have made the situation worse.

The polls found that the president maintains overwhelming support among Democrats and strong backing among independents, whereas growing numbers of Republicans have grown more critical. Among Republicans in the New York Times-CBS poll, the president's job approval fell from 44% in February to 23%.

In these polls, which were conducted after Obama's address to the Muslim world from Cairo and commemoration of World War II and the Holocaust in Europe, the president received higher marks on foreign policy.

In the New York Times-CBS survey, 59% approved of the president's approach to foreign policy. And 57% said they approve of the way Obama is dealing with the treat of terrorism.

The New York Times-CBS survey of 895 adults, conducted Friday through Tuesday, carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The Journal-NBC survey of 1,008 adults, conducted Friday through Monday, has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

mdsilva@latimes.com