After what has been described as President Barack Obama’s “best week” in office, Obama’s approval ratings surged as half of Americans now approve of his job performance for the first time in two years and 52% of approve of his handling of the economy, the first time that number has gone above 50% in nearly six years.
Last week, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who was appointed by Republican president, cast the deciding vote to again uphold Obamacare. Justice Anthony Kennedy, another Republican-appointed justice, cast the deciding vote in ruling that the Constitution guarantees the right to same-sex marriage. Establishment Republicans also caved on ObamaTrade, giving Obama fast-track authority to negotiate trade deals that may undermine U.S. sovereignty. And after the Charleston church massacre, Republican South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley called for the Confederate flag to be removed from the grounds of the state Capitol after establishment Republicans like Mitt Romney called for its removal.
Half of Americans now approve of Obama’s job performance in the CNN/ORC poll, and it is the first time in two years that his approval number has hit 50%. Obama’s disapproval rating is now at 47%, and it is only the second time since May, 2013 that his disapproval rating has dipped below 50%.
Another 52% of Americans approve of Obama’s handling of the economy, “compared with 46% who approved in the May survey,” and it is “the first time approval for Obama’s handling of the economy has topped 50% in CNN/ORC polling in nearly six years.” In addition, the poll found that 55% of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling race relations, up from 50% who approved in May, while 42% disapprove.
But the poll, which conducted June 26-28 and has margin of error is +/- three percentage points, also found that a plurality of Americans (43%) still believe that race relations have gotten worse since Obama was elected to the White House while 20% say race relations have improved.
On Tuesday, Obama said that last week was “a culmination of a lot of work we’ve been doing since I came into office,” but, citing personal milestones, said he has had better weeks.
“My best week, I will tell you, was marrying Michelle — that was a good week,” he said. “Malia and Sasha being born, excellent weeks. There’s a game where I scored 27 points, that was a pretty good week. I’ve had some good weeks in my life.”
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