Obama’s ratings rise but still struggling to sell economic policies, find new polls

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama’s approval rating has improved a bit in comparison to that a month ago, but he is struggling to gain support for some of his policies, according to two new polls.

Obama’s approval rating in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday is 51 per cent, 1 percentage point higher than a month ago and well within the poll’s margin of error, Politico reports.

Meanwhile, his disapproval rate fell from 47 per cent in January to 46 per cent. In October, his approval rating was at a low of 43 per cent.

The poll, which has an error margin of 3.1 percentage points, surveyed 1,112 adults during 2nd to 5th February, 844 of whom were registered voters.

But even as Obama’s overall numbers strengthen, a Gallup Poll, also released the same day, finds him struggling to gain support for some of his policies.

Though the president is trying hard to sell his approaches on the deficit and the economy, the survey showed that few were buying them, as sixty-eight per cent disapproved of his handling of the national debt, while six out of ten did not like his economic management.

Thirty-seven percent of the surveyed Americans said that they backed his economic policies, while a whopping 60 per cent were against them.

But the view was polarized, as nine per cent of Republicans, 32 per cent of independents and 68 per cent of Democrats said that they supported his handling of the economy.

The Gallup survey, which was done on 1,015 adults during 2nd to 5th February, has an error margin of 4 percentage points. (ANI)