Poll: Majority Think Obama Made Country Worse; 1 in 5 Democrats Agree
A recent poll shows that a majority of likely voters, 56 percent, believe that President Barack Obama has made the country worse. Even 20 percent of Democrats agree with the sentiment.
Only 35 percent of respondents answered that Obama has changed America for the better in the July 5 poll of likely voters conducted by Pulse Opinion Research for The Hill.
Unsurprisingly, an overwhelming majority of Republicans, 91 percent, feel that Obama made the country worse. More striking, however, is that one in five Democrats, 20 percent, feel the same way. Some of those may be conservative Democrats, but the poll also shows 12 percent of liberals believe Obama made the country worse.
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Some liberals have expressed disappointment in Obama, especially on foreign policy issues and the use of force. Glenn Greenwald, for instance, has criticized Obama for preserving some of the counter-terrorism policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Respondents who were neither Democrat nor Republican, which were 31 percent of the sample, fell between the two partisan groups: Fifty-six percent said that Obama made the country worse while 31 percent say he made the country better.
A strong majority said that the choice between Obama and his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, is "very important" (77 percent) or "somewhat important" (12 percent). A plurality, 47 percent, also said they are paying more attention to the presidential election this year than they were in 2008.
When asked if Romney would significantly change America, half (50 percent) answered "yes." The poll did not ask, however, if they thought he would change it for better or worse.
Despite the poll's poor showing for Obama, and other polls showing that a majority believe the country is on the wrong track, he is tied in national polls and is leading in some key swing states. Some conservatives have recently expressed concerns that the Romney campaign is not doing enough to answer attacks on his business record and to explain his own plans for fixing the economy.
The poll's margin of error for the full sample is three percentage points.
