Washington (CNN) – One day before President Barack Obama delivers his first State of the Union address, a new national poll indicates that Americans are divided on job he's doing in office.
According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday, 49 percent of the public approves of the job Obama's doing in the White House, with 50 percent disapproving of how he's handling his duties.
Fifty-five percent of people questioned say the don't think Obama has paid enough attention to the most important problems, with 45 percent saying he has the right priorities. And six in ten feel the president has paid more attention to financial institutions rather than the problems faced by middle class Americans, with 28 percent disagreeing.
But 63 percent say Obama's sincere and six in ten feel he's a strong leader. Fifty-nine percent of people questioned say the president is honest and trustworthy, 57 percent feel he inspires confidence, and 56 percent say Obama's in touch with Americans.
"Most Americans have a positive view of Barack Obama's personal characteristics, but they don't feel the same way about his positions on the issues or his track record in office," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Independents think Obama is a strong leader and they see him as honest, but only 42 percent of them say they agree with Obama on the issues."
The survey also indicates that Americans are divided on whether Obama can unite the country, if he's doing a good job keeping promises he made during the 2008 presidential campaign, and whether he has accomplished what they expected he would during his first year in office.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted January 22-24, with 1,009 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
– CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report
From CNN Politics
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A nation of instant gratification is a nation with a very short memory. You can NOT fix years of errors in one year. The one's who say after a year he can't blame Bush. They need to review their history- and it wouldn't hurt to take a eco class either. GIVE PRESIDENT OBAMA a CHANCE. Obstructionism is not the answer- NO is not the answer. He tried Bi partisianship and was just told NO- If you aren't part of the solution- you're part of the Problem!
He is naive and in panic President. I vote my vote back. 2010 and 2012.
The sad part is that conservatives are clueless, afraid, and have no idea of reality. After all, they tune into Fox for their hate and fear. As long as Obama continues to do the correct things, he may not be as popular with those on the left and those on the right, but Americans will be better off.
By his third year into his presidency, Reagan's numbers were much worse than Obama's, but he survived and became the Messiah of the right wingnuts.
People are unhappy and feel screwed over by someone, they are unsure just who to blame. --– Period