NYT/CBS: Poll Finds Faith in Obama, Mixed With Patience

Poll Finds Faith in Obama, Mixed With Patience



By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MARJORIE CONNELLY
Published: January 17, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama is riding a powerful wave of optimism into the White House, with Americans confident he can turn the economy around but prepared to give him years to deal with the crush of problems he faces starting Tuesday, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

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As the nation prepares for a transfer of power and the inauguration of its 44th president, Mr. Obama’s stature with the American public stands in sharp contrast to that of President Bush.
Mr. Bush is leaving office with just 22 percent of Americans offering a favorable view of how he handled the eight years of his presidency, a record low, and firmly identified with the economic crisis Mr. Obama is inheriting. More than 80 percent of respondents said the nation was in worse shape today than it was five years ago.

By contrast, 79 percent were optimistic about the next four years under Mr. Obama, a level of good will for a new chief executive that exceeds that measured for any of the past five incoming presidents. And it cuts across party lines: 58 percent of the respondents who said they voted for Mr. Obama’s opponent in the general election, Senator John McCain of Arizona, said they were optimistic about the country in an Obama administration.

“Obama is not a miracle worker, but I am very optimistic, I really am,” Phyllis Harden, 63, an independent from Easley, S.C., who voted for Mr. Obama, said in an interview after participating in the poll. Ms. Harden added: “It’s going to take a couple of years at least to improve the economy. I think anyone who is looking for a 90-day turnaround is delusional.”
Politically, Mr. Obama enjoys a strong foundation of support as he enters what is surely to be a tough and challenging period, working with Congress to swiftly pass a huge and complicated economic package.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/us/politics/18poll.html?hp

would know it's going to take some time and a whole lotta work to turn this bushit mess around.

Because he TOLD THE TRUTH about the problems we're facing. He also told the truth about those problems not being solved overnight.
That's change I can believe in.