ZOGBY POLL: VOTERS TRUST OBAMA THOUGH PARTISAN DIVIDE REMAINS
Unique "100 DAYS" Survey Confirms What Americans Want Most: Integrity, Leadership and Trust
UTICA, New York - Faced with serious financial crises and the potential outbreak of a flu pandemic, President Obama has won stellar grades for his leadership and integrity during his eventful first 100 days in office, but he has failed to unify the country, a new Zogby interactive survey shows. Overall, 54% gave Obama a positive job performance rating in the survey commissioned by the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion and Public Life, based at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The poll is unique because it focused largely on personal qualities and issues that Americans said were most important in a poll taken immediately after the November presidential election. The study was authored by writer and ethics specialist Jim Lichtman and Capps Center Director Wade Clark Roof. "What's important about this study," Lichtman says, "is that we asked Americans - in open-ended questions last November - what qualities the country needs most in the next president, and what issues were most important to them. We then went back into the field for the 100 Days survey and asked voters to grade both Obama and Congress on those same qualities and issues." Nearly six in ten - 58% - gave Obama positive marks for his honesty and his integrity, while 59% gave him positive marks for his leadership during his first 100 days in office. These are the qualities likely voters said were most important to them in the Capps Center survey conducted after the November, 2008 election. The new Capps survey was conducted between April 28-30. It included 3,367 likely voters and carries a margin of error of +/- 1.7 percentage points. Just over half of the respondents - 52% - said they believe Obama is moving the country in the right direction, a significant improvement over those who said the same thing in polling before Obama took office. Another 47% said they did not have confidence Obama was leading the nation in the right direction. On this question there was a notable partisan split - while 90% of Democrats said they thought Obama was heading the country in the right direction, just 11% of Republicans agreed. Independents were split, with 48% thinking the new President has set the correct course and 51% saying they did not have such confidence. Congress Still Unloved by Voters While Obama scored well for his personal qualities, the Capps study confirms that Congress remains unloved by poll respondents nationwide. Rating the transparency of Congress, just 18% gave it positive marks. Asked about restoring trust in government, just 18% gave Congress a positive rating. Almost one in four - 23% - gave it good marks for honesty, while 22% gave it positive marks for integrity. It performed much better on the question of how it works with Obama - 45% said it has so far done a good job working with the new President. CHART: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Outshines Capitol Hill Obama Congress Issue: Positive Rating Positive Rating Honesty 58% 23% Integrity 58% 22% Transparency 50% 18% Restoring Trust in Government 50% 18% Fairness 58% n/a Intelligence 78% n/a Leadership 60% n/a Vision for Country 56% n/a Working with Congress/Obama 63% 45% Likely voters gave Obama very high marks for his personal intelligence, as 78% gave him a positive rating. 56% said they had confidence in his vision for the country. Intelligence and Vision were additional qualities voters said the new president should demonstrate. In every one of these areas, women gave Obama higher marks than did men. Nation Split on Key Obama Policy Choices The nation is split on how they rank his leadership in fixing the economy and dealing with health care - 49% said they feel Obama has offered good leadership on the economy, while 46% said the same about his efforts on health care; two issues cited as important to voters in the post-election Capps study. Just 44% gave him good marks for stabilizing or cutting taxes, perhaps the result of Obama's stimulus bill signed into law earlier this year that featured massive spending by the federal government. On the question of restoring the public's trust in government, 50% said Obama has made good efforts in that direction, while 48% gave him negative marks in that area. In terms of uniting the country, likely voters are, well, not united. While 52% said they did not have confidence that Obama was up to the task, 47% said they think he is. Responses to this question had a notable and predictable partisan split - 82% of Democrats but just 13% of Republicans said they had confidence Obama would succeed on this point. "Political ideology drives the numbers," Wade Clark Roof said, but notes that "Obama's job approval is about the same, if not better, than that of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in the early months of their presidencies." Asked whether they thought Obama was more likely to act based on the best interests of the country or what helps him politically, 50% said they thought he was more likely to act in the country's best interest, versus 45% who believe that he places politics ahead of the country's needs. 55% said they have confidence that President Obama "has the character and the courage to do the right thing in handling a crisis," and 49% said they are optimistic that he will live up to the expectations of the nation. "Looking at the first 100 Days of any president is something that has become more customary than reflective of serious assessment," Lichtman says. "The real measure of Obama's leadership won't come for at least seven to nine months; certainly sooner, if voters can see results from his economic policies as well as the larger issue of health care reform - something November voters said they most want both the president and Congress to accomplish after fixing the economy."
Please click here for an overview. For interview requests, please contact: (5/4/2009)
Jim Lichtman
Writer and ethics specialist
805-898-9142
or
Wade Clark Roof
Capps Center Director
805-893-2562