Gallup: 68% 'favorable rating' for Obama

[sabra]

Source: USA Today/Gallup

President-elect Barack Obama comes away from Election Day with a 68% "favorable rating," the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows. That's up from 62% who said they think favorably of him just before the election. The poll numbers were released just moments ago.

Obama's pre-election 62% favorable rating was the highest of any major presidential candidate since Gallup began measuring it in 1992. The previous record-holder: then-Texas governor George W. Bush, with a 58% favorable rating just before the 2000 election.

Speaking of President Bush, he starts his last 10 weeks in office with 68% of those polled saying they don't approve of the job he's doing -- a slight improvement from just before Election Day, when 70% of those polled said they disapproved.

As for 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain: Though he lost the election, McCain earns a 64% favorable rating. That's a big jump from the 50% mark he hit right before voters went to the polls.

Read more: http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/?loc=interstitialskip

[VaYallaDawg]

1. Ten more weeks. I can hardly wait.

[elocs]

2. That's nice, but the truth is that Obama has not yet done anything to piss of many Americans.

If I were Obama I would not be as proud of a 68% approval rating before I entered office as I would be of a 68% approval rating when I left office. If Obama serves two terms imagine what a relatively young man he will be at age 55 when he leaves office. I wonder what he will do then?

[4lbs]

3. Head of the UN?

n/t

[nerddem]

5. but that'll be more like 75 in president years

due to the incredible toll it takes. compare photos of him from two years ago to now and look how much he's aged since then?

[gatorboy]

7. That 30% will always be pissed regardless.

It's in their redneck blood. :P

[qwlauren35]

13. My hope is Supreme Court Judge.

Another historical first, of course. But I don't know if Michelle would want to live the rest of her life in DC.

[customerserviceguy]

4. That's a lot of goodwill

and it should work well for him when he proposes legislation. But the poster above is right, he's not really done that much to tick people off yet. Hopefully by the time that such a situation arises, he will have built on that goodwill by accomplishing beneficial things, such as signs of an economic recovery and the withdrawl of our troops from the Middle East.

[Doctor_J]

6. Amazing what sincerity and coherence of speech can do for one's image

and sobriety helps, I guess.

[montanto]

8. Bush gets a 2% increase for packing his bags.

Even I approve of that.

[tanyev]

10. Heck, yeah, I'd volunteer to help.

[CatholicEdHead]

9. McCain's bump was probably from his concession speech

[LynnTheDem]

11. Let's repeat that part...

highest of any major presidential candidate

[ohio2007]

12. Just has to honor the promises made and the #'s should remain high after the first hundred days

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/11/exclusive-obama-deletes-agenda-from-transition-web/