Updated 06:59 PM EST, Sun, Dec 22, 2024

Obama's Approval Rating Increases, But Health Care Law Remains Unpopular

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President Obama's approval ratings have rebounded from their all-time low last month, which resulted from the bungled health care website rollout. However, America is still not confident about the the efficacy of the Affordable Care Act, according to a New York Times/CBS poll. Yet, the public's opinion of the law has improved after repairs were made to the glitchy enrollment website Healthcare.gov.

According to the most recent poll, 42 percent of Americans now approve of Obama's presidential performance, and 50 percent do not. While those numbers are less than stellar, it is better than his November approval numbers, which fell drastically after he took the blame for the botched health care site. In November, only 37 percent approved of the president and 57 percent disapproved, according to a CBS News poll.

The White House now says the website is functioning well for most users.

Yet, only 1 in 6 Americans polled said that the enrollment process on the site is going very well or somewhat well.

A large number of those polled--44 percent--said the site was not getting better or worse, but merely staying the same.

Regardless, most Americans do not believe that Obama is the only one culpable for the botched rollout.

"I don't really put all the blame on the president," said Pete Brown, 56, a Republican from Edelstein, Ill., who disagrees with the health care law. "I mean, Obama isn't in the day-to-day activities. But he didn't put the right leadership overseeing it to get it into place. If it was going to be done, then it should have been done well."

Lise Colgan, 60, a Democrat from Cottage Grove, Ore., who approves of the law, has a similar view. "I think the president could have been a little more hands-on with the botched rollout," she said, "but I don't blame him for technology failures."

The law itself is still not popular. Half of those polled said they disapprove of the Affordable Care Act, while 39 percent approve. However, the law is now viewed more favorable than a month ago, when 61 percent disapproved of the law and only 31 percent approved.

Some believe that the law will become more popular over time.

Wayne Gottschalk, 68, an independent who works for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Topeka, Kan., said, "I think more people will become familiar with it, and it will be a godsend to a lot of people, and it won't be an issue within 18 months."

Obama's job-approval ratings on the economy and foreign affairs have remained fairly consistent since the middle of last month. However, the poll found that 41 percent now approve of his handling of health care, which is up from 32 percent last month.

The poll surveyed 1,000 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The bump in his rating appears to be mostly among the young and Democrats, who were not happy with his handling of health care in November. Among Democrats, Obama's approval rating jumped by 11 points from last month.

Although, only half of Americans think Obama is honest and trustworthy, which is a drop from September 2012. Only about 4 in 10 believe Obama shares their priorities for the county, which is a drop from when he first took office.

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