Majority of Americans Continue to Approve of Obama's Job as President

Washington, DC - The latest Ipsos/McClatchy poll indicates the majority of Americans (65%) continue to approve of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president. This represents only a slight decline from the 69% approval rating Obama received exactly one month ago in the Ipsos/McClatchy poll.

Obama's approval rating breaks heavily along political party lines, with 89% of Democrats approving the job he has done, while only 25% of Republicans approve of his work as president. Among independents, 58% approve how Obama has handled his job as president.

Despite Strong Approval Ratings for Obama, Nearly Half Say US On Wrong Track

Americans are split on the direction of the country, with 48% saying the US is on the wrong track, compared to 44% who think the country is headed in the right direction.

Americans' outlook varies by political party, with 62% of Democrats saying the US is headed in the right direction, while only 20% of Republicans feel this way.

Majority of Americans Expect Economy To Worsen

A majority of Americans (57%) say the worst is yet to come with the US economy. While one in three Americans (35%) think the economy has stabilized, almost no one (3%) thinks the US economy has turned the corner.

Wealthier Americans are more likely than those with lower incomes to think the economy will worsen. Two in three Americans with household incomes of at least $50,000 (66%) say the economy will continue to erode. However, only 50% of Americans with household incomes less than that say the economy will get worse.

Half of Americans Have Unfavorable View of Rush Limbaugh

Overall, nearly half of Americans (46%) hold an unfavorable view of Rush Limbaugh, while one-third (30%) have a favorable view of him. The remaining Americans (21%) have no opinion of him.

Opinions of Limbaugh split heavily by political party, with 59% of Republicans holding a favorable view of him compared to only 14% of Democrats who view Limbaugh favorably.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted March 5 - March 9, 2009. For the survey, a nationally representative, randomly selected sample of exactly 1070 adults aged 18 and older across the United States was interviewed by Ipsos. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate within 3.04 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult population in the U.S. been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. These data were weighted to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population according to U.S. Census figures. Respondents had the option to be interviewed in English or Spanish.

For more information on this news release, please contact: Clifford Young, PhD Senior Vice President Ipsos Reid Public Affairs (312) 375-3328 [email protected]

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