Just a month after winning a bitterly fought presidential election, President Obama now has his highest approval rating since Osama bin Laden was killed, according to data released from an Associated Press poll. In addition, more Americans are now saying the nation is on the right path now than at any other time during his entire first term.
At this time, the approval rating for Obama is 57%, which is the highest since May of 2011. At that time, U.S. Navy SEALs attacked the compound where terror leader bin Laden was living and killed him. The current 57% is five points higher than prior to the election. Forty-two percent said the country was headed in the right direction, which was up from just 35% in January of 2009.
Over 50% believe that Obama will improve the country’s economy prior to the end of his second term. Nevertheless, four years of conflict in Congress that has be very partisan, has taken its toll on the image of President Obama.
Americans are split on how good of a president Obama has been thus far. Thirty-seven percent said he is above average or even outstanding and 36% described his first term as poor or below average. About 25% said the president was just average.
Obama’s numbers were much stronger on this front when he started his first term. Two-thirds of the population was expecting Obama to have a presidency that was above average.
During his four year term, the relative performance of Obama has gone back and forth, moving higher after bin Laden’s death, after having declined during the summer months of 2010, just months prior to the House being taken back over by Republicans.
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