Obama Rates Favorably with Americans in Bloomberg National Poll

Concerns Linger Over Handling of Health Care, Budget and Economy

NEW YORK, December 8 - President Barack Obama receives high marks for his foreign policy while
most Americans disagree with his handling of health care and the budget
deficit, according to the Bloomberg National Poll, a quarterly survey of
Americans.

While most Americans polled generally support Obama with a job-approval
rating of 54 percent, he receives negative marks on many domestic issues.
More than 50 percent of respondents say they disapprove of his plan to
overhaul the health care system and even more, 57 percent, criticize his
management of the federal budget deficit. In contrast, he receives strong
support for his approach to foreign policy, 62 percent of Americans approve
of his decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and 59 percent
approve of the way he is managing relations with other countries.

The economy is still the country's top concern with 8 out of 10 Americans
rating joblessness as a high risk to the economic performance in the next two
years, outranking the federal budget deficit, which was cited by 7 out of 10.

Despite concerns with Obama's handling of the economy, health care and
the deficit, Americans appear to still be allowing him a honeymoon period to
address these issues, with 60 percent saying the nation's economic problems
are mostly the result of decisions he inherited, according to the Bloomberg
National Poll, which interviewed a random sample of 1,000 U.S. adults ages 18
or older, for a snapshot of Americans' thoughts on Obama's administration and
the economy.

The Bloomberg National Poll was conducted by Selzer & Company, whose
survey of Iowa Caucus voters in 2008 was the only one to accurately predict
Barack Obama's victory. The firm has conducted surveys for more than two
dozen major newspapers in the U.S., and was named the best of 32 polling
firms ranked by polling Web site FiveThirtyEight.com. Poll results are
available at www.bloomberg.com.

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Angela Martin, +1-212-617-1211, angelamartin at bloomberg.net