[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/18/art.obamacash.gi.jpg caption="Obama enjoys a 61 percent job approval rating, and 67 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the president."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Overall, Americans approve of how President Obama is handling his job, but less than half the country agrees with his approach to battling the deficit and controlling federal spending, according to a new poll.
Obama enjoys a 61 percent job approval rating, and 67 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the president, according to the Gallup poll released Monday.
On the deficit, the public seems split, but the trend shows a general souring towards Obama's economic agenda: 48 percent now disapprove of the president's approach to dealing with the deficit, while 46 percent approve - a statistical split. Fifty-one percent disapprove of his approach to reining in federal spending, while 45 percent approve.
The Gallup survey of 1,105 adults was conducted May 29-31 and carries a possible sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Jim June 8th, 2009 1:45 pm ET
"It's going to take us decades to undo the damage Obama is doing right now."
It will take a lot more than that to undo what the GOP did to this country.
What did you have to say when Bush released the first 700 billion with almost no accountability? Free money to his cronies. I'd like to know who got how much and for what. It will never happen. The GOP does not believe in accountability.
Half the country approves of his handling of his economic agenda, half disapproves. There is nothing "clear" about that.
Jim and Mark – yet, he IS president. So there. Deal with it. 3.5 years to go, at a minimum, 7.5 most likely.
IS IT 2012 YET ?? June 8th, 2009 1:40 pm ET
Hurry 2012. Please, hurry.
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Sorry, 3 LOOOONG YEARS and 6 months to go, then he WILL be reelected again. lol! Suffer the success of President Obama or recoil from the Light.
"Fifty-one percent disapprove of his approach to reining in federal spending, while 45 percent approve."
What do you mean his approach to "reining in the deficit?" Obama expanded Bush's record deficit to $1.8 trillion from $490 billion.
How was that "reining in the deficit?" Was this some kind of lame attempt at spin?
People aren't that stupid.
Yes, hurry 2012 so we can re-elect President Obama.
Obama 2012
Jim.......You're a typical Republican.......You're still trying to dump Bush on Pres. Obama......I won't let it happen....I will never get tired of setting the record straight......Bush got by with a free pass for eight years.....No one (including Congress) had a clue what was going on in his regime (Even Republicans not in his inner circle) were kept out of the loop......Now that the stuff has hit the fan, you want to conveniently blame PBO.......AS your RNC guy Steel says: "NO WAY BABY".....Your guy made a mess, and that will forever be his legacy......It matters not what VP Cheney or Liz say....They screwed up big time......Give the real leader (President Obama) time to undo some of the mess.....You had eight years to open your mouth.....Now it's time to keep it shut.....
I have seen other polls such as Twitter and Daily Kos use Rassmussen numbers of 54% approval rating and a fairly high disapproval of 40+% (considering he has only been President for a little over 4 months now.
Maybe people are tired of seeing fancy parties, trips costing taxpayers $1000's of dollars, broken promises and still no real relief despite all the massive spending the democratic party has pushed for.
I think those in the White house and in Congress may be a tad surprised when the Republicans and hopefully more Ind. take over seats in the next election.
LOL... if I'm not mistaken, this is all George Bush's fault...
Mike in MS June 8th, 2009 1:31 pm ET
NEWS FLASH CNN. THE LATEST RASSMUSSEN POLLS HAVE BO IN THE 54% RANGE! NICE TRY!
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You really are clueless, just like your idol Sarah Palin..everyone with a bit of sense knows Rassmussen is slanted to the Right, they're ALWAYS used by Faux Noise and is on their channel all the time!
Stupid fool.
Here we go again to all the Economist bloggers here.... Can the Republicans do any better. Obama did however inheritate a big mess, Reagan had a mess, by the time he was in his second term, some jobs were slowly coming back, but by the 90's the work was about 85% not bad....