Behind the Numbers Archive: Barack Obama

Unions and the Obama administration

By a wide 17-point margin, Americans in union households say Democrats are more likely than Republicans to understand the economic problems people are having (43 to 26 percent).

Just over a third of those in union households in a new poll from The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health say President Obama's economic program is making things better, far from a majority, but a higher number than among non-union households.

By Jon Cohen  | February 22, 2011; 11:56 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (2)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Economy, Post Polls  
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Ratings on Obama's handling of the deficit

Most Americans disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the federal budget deficit, but head-to-head against the Republicans in Congress, the president appears to be in better political shape than former president Bill Clinton was at the start of his year-long budget fight with the Republicans in 1995.

By Jon Cohen and Peyton M. Craighill  | February 15, 2011; 10:37 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (15)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Federal Budget Deficit  
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Americans increasingly view global economy as a negative

A growing number of Americans consider the accelerating trend toward globalization a bad thing for the United States. At the same time, a majority now see being the world's No. 1 economic power as an important national goal.

By Peyton Craighill  | January 28, 2011; 9:26 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Economy  
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Polls: Public reaction to the State of the Union mostly positive

Two polls measured immediate reactions to President Obama's State of the Union speech Tuesday night. A CNN/Opinion Research found 84 percent of speech-watchers reacted positively to his message, 52 percent very positively. A CBS News poll found 91 percent of watchers approve of the proposals the president made.

By Peyton Craighill  | January 26, 2011; 3:50 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (21)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Polls, Presidential Approval  
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Policy priorities for the year ahead

President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday offers an opportunity to focus the nation's attention on the policy priorities for the year ahead - but the public is already honed in on Topic A, the economy.

By Peyton Craighill  | January 24, 2011; 12:11 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Congress, Economy, Federal Budget Deficit, Health care, Immigration  
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Partisan reactions to Tucson shootings

Evaluations of President Obama's handling of the shootings in Tucson are highly positive across the political spectrum, with nearly eight in 10 giving him high marks for his response to the incident. Even 71 percent of Republicans say they approve of his leadership following the shootings. But reactions to Sarah Palin's handling were more measured.

By Peyton Craighill  | January 17, 2011; 5:15 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (11)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Republican Party, Sarah Palin, Tea party  
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