The economy is boosting President Obama, but his rating on terrorism remains low. Hillary Clinton has an early lead in three battleground states, but the models say the race will get close. And in the event of a DHS shutdown, Americans would cast more blame on Republicans. This is HuffPollster for Wednesday, February 18, 2015.
GALLUP: OBAMA UP ON ECONOMY, LESS ON FOREIGN POLICY – Jeffrey Jones: “Although still relatively low in an absolute sense, Americans’ approval ratings of President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy and foreign affairs are up significantly from last fall, to 43% and 36%, respectively. His ratings on these issues slumped last year, including a personal low of 31% for his handling of foreign affairs in November….The increase [in Obama’s overall job rating] has been aided by more positive economic news, including lower gas prices, which have boosted Americans’ perceptions of the U.S. economy’s health to the best they have been since the 2007-2009 recession. The more positive economic news may also explain why his economic approval rating has increased more (up 10 percentage points) than his foreign affairs approval rating (up five points) since November….Obama’s economic approval ratings have not been above 50% since the honeymoon phase of his presidency in early 2009.” [Gallup]
Similar findings from Economist/YouGov – Kathy Frankovic: “Things may be looking better for the President when it comes to domestic issues, but there are concerns about foreign policy and terrorism, which once was a bright spot for the Administration. In the latest Economist/YouGov Poll, Americans are as likely to approve as they are to disapprove of the way the President is handling the economy – something that has not been the case for a very long time….But these improvement on domestic issues may be overshadowed by the international problems the country now faces – and the President is not seen as doing a great job managing them. That is particularly true when it comes to the public’s assessment of his handling of terrorism.” [YouGov]
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-Malaena Taylor compares view of Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party. [Roper]
-Weekly church attendance is highest in Utah, lowest in Vermont. [Gallup]
-Kate Kaye explains how movie studios use data and social media to target Academy Award voters. [Ad Age via @alexlundry]
