Americans give Obama mixed report card for his first year

WASHINGTON - Americans are split on whether Barack Obama’s first year as president has been a success, a new national poll finds.

Some 45 percent of those surveyed in a nationwide Quinnipiac University Poll released Wednesday said the president’s first year was a success, and an equal percentage thought it had been a failure.

“He is getting a passing grade, but the report card is not that good that his mother is going to put it up on the refrigerator,” says Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“Americans are split and that is not surprising; they were split about George Bush, they were split about Bill Clinton,” Brown added.

In other findings, the new Quinnipiac survey found that only 45 percent of voters approve of the job Obama is doing. That is in line with the average of major polls maintained by the Real Clear Politics website, which shows an average 47.6 percent approval rating versus a 45.8 percent disapproval score.

To put Obama’s approval ratings in context, “President Obama’s job approval in the January 2-4 Gallup Daily tracking was the second lowest in the modern era for Presidents starting their second year in office,” Republican pollster Neil Newhouse wrote in a blog post.

Obama opened the new year with a 50 percent job approval rating, which was marginally higher than President Reagan’s 49 percent at the start of his second year.

Obama’s approval numbers in the Quinnipiac poll on specific areas of domestic policy are, except for terrorism, lower than his overall approval rating.

Only 41 percent approve of his handling of the economy, while 34 percent approve of his performance on creating jobs. In the wake of the Dec. 25 airliner bombing attempt, 48 percent approve of his performance handling terrorism. (ANI)