Politically, much of the past year has focused on sparring between the president and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, with the two sides fiercely opposed to each other on taxes, health care and other issues. Despite congressional Republicans receiving far lower approval ratings than Obama — in this poll, 21 percent give the GOP good marks — the two sides remain evenly matched in many respects.
Obama and the Republicans in Congress run neck and neck when it comes to whom the public trusts on the economy, taxes and the deficit. Most of those who see few accomplishments during Obama’s three years in office blame the president, not the Republicans in Congress, for the lack of progress.
Obama maintains an advantage over congressional Republicans on the issue of who is trusted to protect the middle class. But for the first time, he is tied with Republicans among independents on this question. But neither side should take comfort in that. A record-high 20 percent of independents say they trust neither side when it comes to the interests of the middle class.
Obama has a narrow edge over congressional Republicans on job creation overall, but that again turns into a near-tie among independents. Three times as many independents say they are in worse shape since Obama took office; that’s slightly more negative than it was for former president George H.W. Bush in January 1992, the year he sought reelection. (At 35 percent among independents, Obama’s approval rating on the economy tops Bush’s 24 percent.)
One key theme of the campaign is breaking in Obama’s favor. By 55 percent to 38 percent, more Americans consider inequality the bigger economic issue than over-regulation of free enterprise. A majority of independents say inequality is the bigger issue.
Nearly three-quarters of those focused on government overreach would support Romney in a matchup with Obama, while slightly more than six in 10 who say the economic system is tilted toward the wealthy would back the president.
Obama trails Romney among independent voters, but he is not without strong pushback. By a ratio of greater than 2 to 1, independents fault former president George W. Bush more than Obama for the current economic problems. Most — 56 percent — view Obama as someone who “sticks to his principles.” Even 44 percent of Republicans credit the president on this front, far above the 13 percent overall approval rating he receives from them.
The telephone poll was conducted Jan. 12 to 15 among 1,000 randomly selected adults. The results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Polling manager Peyton M. Craighill and polling analyst Scott Clement contributed to this report.
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