Poll: Obama enjoys strong public support as President-elect

Source: Los Angeles Times

Barack Obama approaches the White House with a deep well of public support, even though many doubt the president-elect can fulfill some key promises, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.

Less than six weeks before Obama's history-making ascent to the Oval Office, the country is torn between hope for the future and concern about the present. Nine in 10 of those surveyed say the economy is in poor shape, with a substantial majority believing things are very bad. That finding, which matches the assessment in an October poll, is the gloomiest since a Times poll taken during the 1991 recession.

There are, however, signs of budding optimism.

Although nearly two-thirds of those surveyed believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, the figure represents an improvement from October, when 84% said the country was on the wrong track. Obama may deserve some credit for the change in outlook, even as the former Illinois senator declines to take a more direct role in addressing the nation's economic woes.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed feel positive about Obama's election as president, a figure that includes not just an overwhelming majority of his fellow Democrats but a substantial majority of independents and nearly a third of Republicans.

Overall, nearly eight in 10 approve of the way Obama has handled his transition to the White House and nearly three-quarters approve of his Cabinet picks. Strong majorities endorsed two of Obama's most prominent choices: Democratic New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of State and Republican Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration, as secretary of Defense....

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-poll10-2008dec10,0,3240095.story

scandal, no matter how justified, will soon end that honeymoon.