As President Obama prepares to pass the torch to President-elect Trump today, The Harris Poll takes a final look at America’s feelings towards his time in office. For the first time since August 2009, just over half of Americans rate President Barack Obama positively. As his two-term Presidency comes to a close, 51% of adults say the President is doing an excellent or pretty good job overall. While Obama’s positive ratings have been steadily climbing since March of 2016, this new rating is significantly higher than the 44% who felt positively in September/October of 2016, the last time this question was asked.
When Obama first entered office, ratings were quite high, with a majority of Americans saying he was doing an excellent or pretty good job between March and June of 2009. The highest rating on record came in May of that same year when nearly 6 in 10 Americans believed he was doing a good job (59%) and, until today, August of 2009 was the last showing of a positive tilt at 51%.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll? of 2,192 U.S. adults ages 18+ surveyed online between January 9 and 11, 2017.
Positive thinkers?
While the masses agree President Obama is doing at least a pretty good job overall, some groups are more positively leaning than others. Those most likely to rate the President positively are:
???? Democrats (86% vs. 46% Independent and 15% Republican);
???? Millennials (66% vs. 55% 35-44, 45% 45-54, 43% 55-64, 41% 65+);
???? Urban or Suburban dwellers (62% urban and 50% suburban vs. 39% rural);
???? Parents (58% of those with a child under 18 in the house vs. 48% without);
???? Westerners (58% vs. 48% Midwesterners, 49% Southerners, and 49% Northeasterners);
???? Women (55% vs. 48% men); and,
???? College educated adults (54% college grad and 53% some college vs. 45% high school or less).
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