Just ahead of President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, new polls find continued public dissatisfaction with the direction of the country, yet support for several of the policies the president has said he will push in his second term.
A new CBS News poll found that the economy remains the public’s chief concern, with fewer than half of Americans approving of Mr. Obama’s handling of it. Most Americans also say the president lacks a clear plan for solving the nation’s problems. And 54 percent say the country is on the wrong track.
Yet looking ahead, more than 6 in 10 Americans say it is at least somewhat likely that the president will bring about significant changes to immigration policy and about two-thirds say so about gun policy.
And on several issues, the CBS News poll finds a majority of Americans are in the president’s corner. Most, 59 percent, back a combination of spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the deficit; 53 pecent say gun control laws should be made more strict; 53 percent support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants currently working in the United States; and 71 percent favor carrying out drone strikes against suspected terrorists.
In a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, a majority of Americans, 56 percent, expressed a negative view of the country’s political system. And underscoring the task facing Senator Marco Rubio of Florida as he prepares to deliver the Republican response to Mr. Obama’s address, 55 percent say they have an unfavorable view of the policies Congressional Republicans will pursue in the next four years. The president fares better, with 52 percent saying they have a favorable impression of the policies he will pursue in his second term, and 43 percent expressing an unfavorable impression.
Focusing on Tuesday’s night’s address, a recent Quinnipiac University poll asked voters what they were most interested in hearing the president discuss. Just over a third c! ited the economy, more than mentioned any other issue. Coming in second was the federal budget deficit, cited by 20 percent, followed by gun policy, at 15 percent.
The CBS News poll was conducted Feb. 6 to 10 among 1,148 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. The ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted Feb. 6 to 10 among 1,021 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points. The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted Jan. 30 to Feb. 4 among 1,772 registered voters and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus two percentage points.
