Poll Shows Increased Optimism That Economy Improving

There might be some additional good news for the Democrats in addition to that in the previous post. A New York Times/CBS News poll shows increased optimism:

A growing number of Americans think the economy is improving and three-quarters of them approve of President Obama’s handling of the economy, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Forty-one percent said the economy was getting better, up from 33 percent about a month ago, while 15 percent described the economy as deteriorating.Of that 41 percent, 75 percent approve of Mr. Obama’s handling of the economy.

Another 43 percent said the economy was staying about the same; while 7 percent of that segment believe the economy is in good shape, the other 35 percent say it’s in bad condition.

One problem is that those who think this are people who are already more likely to vote Democratic: young more educated voters and Democrats:

Younger and better-educated Americans are more likely to describe the economy as on the mend. Sixty-one percent of Democrats said the economy was getting better, but only 16 percent of Republicans and 38 percent of independents agreed.

Over all, the public is evenly divided on their assessment of Mr. Obama’s management of the economy: 48 percent approve and 47 percent disapprove.

And again, there are strong partisan differences. Democrats overwhelmingly approve of the president’s handling of the economy — 77 percent to 19 percent. Among Republicans, however, 86 percent disapprove, while just 11 percent approve.

Even if this optimism comes primarily from Democratic voters at present, such views could spread to more groups by this fall. Even improving the attitude among traditional Democratic voters would be helpful for the Democrats in reducing the intensity gap which earlier seemed to give the Republicans a tremendous advantage.

1 Comment

  1. 1
    Ron Chusid says:

    Poll Shows Increased Optimism In Economy, potentially reducing intensity gap between parties http://is.gd/bT8h9 #p2

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