Obama’s Numbers After Two Months

The day after Barack Obama was elected president, 54% of voters nationwide expected government spending to go up during the Obama years. Now, after two months of the Obama administration, that number has jumped 18 percentage points to 72%.

 That’s undoubtedly one reason the number who view the president’s politics as Very Liberal is up from 28% in late October to 44% today. Overall, 71% say Obama’s politics are at least somewhat liberal.

 Rasmussen Reports tracking polls show that only 18% think their taxes will go down during the Obama presidency, while 31% expect a tax hike.

 Still, 48% say the president is doing a good or excellent job when it comes to handling the economy. Only 30% say he’s doing a poor job. Currently, voters are evenly divided on the president’s $3.6 trillion budget proposal.

 His ratings are a bit higher - 52% good or excellent - on national security issues. Fifty-one percent (51%) give him positive marks on energy issues.

 Fifty-six percent (56%) rate the president good or excellent in terms of leadership.

 But just 39% say he’s governing on a bipartisan basis, while 43% say he’s acting like a partisan Democrat: Those numbers are reversed from shortly after his inauguration, although he’s still seen as far less partisan than members of Congress from both parties.

 Forty-eight percent (48%) believe the president generally views American society as fair and decent. Thirty-two percent (32%) think he sees society as generally unfair and discriminatory. Among all voters, 69% say society is generally fair and decent while 22% say it is unfair and discriminatory.

 Forty-three percent (43%) say Obama is more ethical than most politicians, and another 29% say he’s about as ethical as his peers. Just 21% say Obama is less ethical than most. In terms of addressing the issues of ethics and reducing government corruption, 56% say the president is doing a good or excellent job.

 Overall, the president’s job approval ratings have declined since Inauguration Day but remain generally positive. While his ratings have slipped a bit, consumer confidence is little changed from where it was when Obama took the oath of office on January 20.

Fifty percent (50%) of U.S. voters now say they are more worried that the government will do too much in reacting to the nation’s economic problems rather than not enough. That’s up slightly from 46% when Obama was elected last November.

On Election Night, the president almost certainly never expected to deal with issue like the AIG bonus debacle. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Americans believe that most of the bailout money is going to the people who created the crisis