Politics
Better economic numbers boost Obama’s numbers
U.S. President Barack Obama. PHOTO/File
President Obama’s political standing is rising along with voters’ optimism that the economy is getting better, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, a shift that coincides with continued Republican disquiet over the field of candidates seeking to replace him.
Consecutive months of job growth, the bullish stock market and improving consumer demand appear to be benefiting — for now, at least — a president who stated outright three years ago that his chances for a second term would depend on his ability to persuade the country that its economy was on the mend by this very month.
In what could be a turning point, the percentage of people who say they believe the economic outlook is improving is now greater, by double digits, than the percentage of those who say they believe it is getting worse, a reversal from a low point in September, when pessimists outnumbered optimists by more than three to one.