Union Members Likely a Friendly Audience for Obama

President Obama is likely to be in friendly territory at today's AFL-CIO Convention, as this week's Washington Post-ABC News poll finds union members and householders to be among his strongest boosters.

Overall, nearly seven in 10 (68 percent) union members have a favorable impression of the president and 57 percent say they approve of the way Obama is handling his job, with "strong" approval (42 percent) surpassing strong disapproval (25 percent) by a wide margin. And nearly half (46 percent) say Obama has exceeded their expectations, though more than twice as many are mildly impressed (31 percent) than say he's greatly outdone himself (14 percent).

About six in 10 union members say the president's positions on most issues are just about right for them, 33 percent consider his views too liberal, 6 percent too conservative.

On Obama's top domestic priorities - the economy and health care - union members are more likely than others to express support for his initiatives, even as they have fared somewhat better during the economic downturn and most carry health insurance.

More than six in 10 union members say the economic stimulus package will have or has already had a positive impact (vs. 51 percent among non-members), and 58 percent say they support the proposed changes to the health care system (45 percent among non-members).

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president?

              -- Approve ---   - Disapprove -
              NET   Strongly   NET   Strongly
Union member  57       42      42       25
Union HH      61       41      38       27
Non-union     53       34      43       32

Q. Would you say Obama is doing a better job as president than you expected, a worse job, or what?

              - Better -   - Worse --   As expected
              NET   Much   NET   Much     (vol.)
Union member  46     14    27     11        28
Union HH      46     15    26     11        28
Non-union     42     19    31     18        25

Q. Overall, do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Barack Obama?

              - Favorable --   -Unfavorable--
              NET   Strongly   NET   Strongly
Union member  68       48      32       17
Union HH      69       50      31       17
Non-union     62       39      36       24

Q. Do you think Obama's views on most issues are too liberal for you, too conservative for you, or just about right?

                Too         Too        About
              liberal   conservative   right
Union member    33            6         59
Union HH        34            5         60
Non-union       40            5         52

By Jennifer Agiesta |  September 15, 2009; 11:45 AM ET Barack Obama , Crosstabs , Post Polls
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