Early in 2012, President Obama's approval ratings were dipping, and rested somewhere in the mid-forties. This caused some pundits to believe the president was vulnerable in the last election. But it turned out that his opponent, and the Republican Party in general, were even more unpopular than the president was -- and he easily won re-election.But since the election, and especially since the end-of-the-year fight over the "fiscal cliff", an interesting thing has been happening. The president's approval ratings have been growing. And a new Washington Post/ABC News Poll shows that is still happening. The poll, conducted between January 23rd and 27th of 1,022 randomly chosen adults nationwide, shows the president's favorability has climbed to 60% -- his highest rating in the last three years (and his unfavorability has dropped to about 37%).
Even more interesting is the fact that this increase in favorability reaches across all demographic lines. There is only one group where the president's ratings did not rise -- among Republicans. Here is the demographic breakdown. The first number is the last rating, while the number in parentheses is the number for this time last year. The third number is the difference between the first two numbers (+ or -):
General public...............60% (53%).....+7
Democrats...............92% (87%).....+5
Republicans...............19% (20%).....-1
Independents...............60% (51%).....+9
Liberals...............87% (70%).....+17
Moderates...............68% (66%).....+2
Conservatives...............34% (30%).....+4
18 to 39...............66% (54%).....+12
40 to 64...............57% (56%).....+1
Over 65...............51% (40%).....+11
Note that the group with the biggest increase is the liberal group. I think they like the tougher Obama they now see -- a president willing to stand up to the Republicans, instead of just give in to them. We can only hope he will continue in this new persona. Americans like a tough leader -- even when they don't completely agree with him.
