Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

At Year's End, Nation Remains Divided

Splits on Obama, Afghanistan and Health Care

December 16, 2009

Overview

Public opinion about President Barack Obama and his major polices continues to be divided as the year comes to a close. His overall approval rating is 49%, which is largely unchanged from November (51%). However, the percentage expressing at least a fair amount of confidence in Obama to do the right thing when it comes to fixing the economy has slipped from 59% in October to 52% currently. Smaller percentages express confidence in Obama on health care reform (44%) and reducing the budget deficit (41%).

Opinions about Afghanistan also are mixed: 50% express confidence in Obama to do the right thing regarding the situation in Afghanistan, which is unchanged from October. About the same percentage (51%) supports his decision to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. While an increasing percentage of Americans say the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan is going well, just 36% say Obama has a clear plan to bring the situation there to a successful conclusion.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Dec. 9-13 among 1,504 adults reached on landlines and cell phones, finds that while views about Obama are mixed, opinions about the national economy are not. Just 8% say economic conditions are excellent or good, while 91% say they are only fair or poor. Views of the national economy have changed little over the past six months.

A plurality (39%) says that Obama's economic policies have not had an effect so far; as in October, somewhat more say his policies have made things better (30%) than worse (24%). But when asked which party is more responsible for current economic conditions, far more people continue to say the Republican Party (39%) rather than the Democratic Party (27%) is responsible.

Opinions about the health care proposals in Congress have shown little movement over the past few months. As has been the case in most Pew Research Center surveys since July, there is currently more opposition than support for the proposals. Nearly half (48%) say they generally oppose the proposals in Congress to overhaul the health care system while 35% generally favor them. However, when asked for their reactions if the health care bills were enacted, nearly as many say they would be very happy or pleased (41%) as say they would be disappointed or angry (45%).

Opponents and supporters of health care reform point to familiar reasons for their positions. A third of opponents (33%) cite too much government involvement in health care as the most important reason for opposing the legislation. Other factors -- such as health care reform being too expensive (17%) or that people's own health care might suffer (13%) -- are cited as most important by fewer of the bills' opponents.

Among supporters of the health care bills, 37% cite expanding health coverage to the uninsured as the most important reason for their views. Nearly a quarter (24%) says the most important reason for their support is assuring that no one is denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions, while smaller percentages cite other factors, including 6% who point to a government-provided "public option."

The survey finds that as Obama nears the end of his first year in office, he gets high approval ratings from many of the same groups that strongly supported his election last year -- African Americans and Democrats.

Fully 88% of non-Hispanic African Americans approve of Obama's job performance, compared with 39% of non-Hispanic whites. Obama continues to draw broad support from his Democratic base: comparable percentages of liberal Democrats (85%) and conservative and moderate Democrats (82%) approve of the way he is handling his job. By contrast, Republicans overwhelmingly disapprove (19% approve vs. 73% disapprove); among conservative Republicans just 12% approve of Obama's job performance while 82% disapprove. (For more detailed breakdowns of Obama's ratings, see demographic tables at people-press.org).

Obama's overall ratings -- as well as his ratings among most subgroups in the population -- have changed only modestly in recent months. While independents overall are divided in their views of Obama's job performance (42% approve vs. 44% disapprove), there is a sharp divide among those who lean Democratic and those who lean Republican: 69% of Democratic-leaning independents approve of Obama's performance compared with only 17% of Republican-leaning independents.

Continue reading the full report, including further analysis of public opinon on Afghanistan, Congress, health care and other issues at people-press.org.