According to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, President Barack Obama’s approval rating is near an all-time high, and the public is on his side in the upcoming debt ceiling debate.
The poll finds Obama’s approval rating at 55 percent, his highest level since November, 2009 (excluding a brief bump up to 56 percent after the president ordered the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011)… 61 percent view Obama as a strong leader — his highest level in three years — and 53 percent say they’re optimistic about the policies he’ll pursue in his second term.
By contrast, voters intensely dislike Obama’s opponents in the House of Representatives. Congress has just a 19 percent approval rating; 37 percent approve of House Democrats, and 24 percent approve of House Republicans. Additionally, 67 percent believe that Republican leadership is doing too little to give ground in negotiations, compared to 48 percent who say that is true of the president.
That gap is reflected in voters’ opinions on the debt ceiling debate. Obama leads the GOP leadership in trust to handle the debt ceiling by 14 percent. Furthermore, 58 percent of Americans say the debt ceiling should be handled separately from the debate on spending cuts, compared to 36 percent who favor linking the issues. Just 22 percent favor shutting down the government or allowing the country to default on its debt if the White House and Congress can’t agree on budget cuts.
