The latest New York Times/CBS News poll offers a gift of another sort for Michelle Obama on her 49th birthday Thursday - Americans’ positive views of her outstrip the negative by about 4 to 1.
Fifty-one percent of Americans hold a favorable opinion of Mrs. Obama on the eve of her husband’s second inauguration next week, while just 13 percent express an unfavorable view of her and the rest have no opinion.
Still, she has slipped from her personal best during the first couple’s White House years, dropping from a high of 67 percent around the 100-day mark of the president’s first term. It was also higher last September â€" 61 percent among registered voters â€" shortly after the Democratic National Convention where Mrs. Obama delivered a rousing speech.
Notably, her unfavorablerating is lower than it was in September too; the difference is just that more Americans now say they have no opinion.
Along political lines, more than 4 in 10 Republicans and independents now say they have no opinion of her. Her favorable/unfavorable ratings range from 79 percent to 2 percent among Democrats, to 43 percent to 11 percent among independents and 24 percent to 30 percent among Republicans.
She’s more popular among women than men, with a gender split of 57 percent to 44 percent. But men don’t dislike her more by sizable numbers; they’re just more apt to not have an opinion.
The national poll was conducted Jan. 11 through Jan. 15 among 1,110 adults using landlines and cellphones and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. More results from this poll will be released on NYTimes.com after 6:30 p.m.
