Poll: Americans Hopeful, But Patient For Change
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Barack, Economy, Polls
Some encouraging numbers for Obama today because they signal that folks realize how awful things are right now and that it won’t change overnight.
While hopes for the new president are extraordinarily high, the poll found, expectations for what Mr. Obama will actually be able to accomplish appear to have been tempered by the scale of the nation’s problems at home and abroad.The findings suggest that Mr. Obama has achieved some success with his effort, which began with his victory speech in Chicago in November, to gird Americans for a slow economic recovery and difficult years ahead after a campaign that generated striking enthusiasm and high hopes for change.
Most Americans said they did not expect real progress in improving the economy, reforming the health care system or ending the war in Iraq — three of the central promises of Mr. Obama’s campaign — for at least two years. The poll found that two-thirds of respondents think the recession will last two years or longer.
So what’s the mood about the economy right now?
Couple this info with other polls that show 58% favor passage of a massive stimulus package and you have a situation where Obama’s honeymoon might last a bit longer than I previously suspected.
Also, when tax cuts for individuals and businesses are added to the stimulus, support jumps to 71%. And to the best of my knowledge, I thought these tax cuts were in there.
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 18th, 2009 and is filed under Barack, Economy, Polls. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
