9/6: September 11th Not Forgotten, But Many Plan Regular Activities on 10th Anniversary

The September 11^th terrorist attacks have indelibly scarred the memories of New York City residents, but as the tenth anniversary of those attacks draws near, nearly four in ten adults citywide plan to spend the day going about their daily routine.

Click Here for Complete September 6^th, 2011 NYC NY1-Marist Poll Release and Tables

Nearly all New York City adults — 97% — remember where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the September 11^th terrorist attacks while just 3% do not.

When it comes to how New Yorkers will spend the day on the tenth anniversary of the attacks, 37% plan to keep their daily routine.  One in four residents — 25% — say they will quietly reflect upon the day at home or at work while 23% report they will follow the media coverage of the memorial service.  One in ten adults citywide — 10% — think they will attend a religious ceremony at their place of worship, and 6% plan to attend a formal ceremony honoring the victims of the September 11^th attacks.

Key points:

• By borough, nearly half of Manhattan residents — 47% — and 43% of those in Brooklyn plan to go about their daily routine.  There is less of a consensus in the Bronx and in Queens and Staten Island.  In the Bronx, 30% say their day will be routine, 28% report they will follow the media coverage of the memorial service, and 24% say they will quietly reflect at work or at home.   Similarly, in Queens and Staten Island, 29% will go about their daily schedule while 28% will follow news coverage of the day’s events, and 26% will reflect upon the day on their own.

Table: Remember Where You Were When You First Heard About September 11^th Attacks

Table: The Way in Which You Plan to Spend 10^th Anniversary of the September 11^th Attacks

NY1-Marist Poll Methodology

8/11: September 11th Ten Years Later: Concerns About Another Terrorist Attack at New Low

New York City and the rest of the nation will solemnly mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11^th terrorist attacks one month from today.  Are residents in New York City concerned about another attack?  Worry about another assault in the city is at its lowest point since the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Click Here for Complete August 11^th, 2011 NYC NY1-Marist Poll Release and Tables

According to this NY1-Marist Poll, 49% of New York City residents express concern about another terrorist attack.  Included here are 17% who are very worried and 32% who are worried.  34%, however, are not too worried, and 17% are not worried at all.

“Although many New Yorkers remain on guard concerning another terrorist attack, others think the threat has passed,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.  “There has also been significant healing in the city.  A majority of New Yorkers say their lives have returned to normal.”

When NY1-Marist last reported this question in May soon after the death of Osama Bin Laden, 51% expressed concern while nearly three in ten — 29% — weren’t too worried, and 17% said they weren’t anxious at all.

More residents in the Bronx — 60% — are concerned than are those in the other boroughs.  49% of residents in Queens and Staten Island, 47% of those in Brooklyn, and 45% of those in Manhattan are either very worried or worried about another terrorist attack in New York City.

Women — 54% — and those 45 and older — 53% — have a heightened sense of anxiety compared with men — 43% — and those who are younger — 46%.

Table: Concern About Another Terrorist Attack

Table: Concern About Another Terrorist Attack Over Time

Daily Life Back to Normal for Majority … Recovery Still Needed for City

53% of adults in New York City say their lives have returned to normal since the terror attacks nearly ten years ago.  11% expect their lives to eventually return to normal while 36% say their lives will never be the same.

There has been little change on this question since May when 54% said their lives were back on track, one in ten — 10% — thought they would eventually recover, and 35% believed their lives would never be the same.  However, many New York City residents have healed since the years immediately following the attacks.  In September 2004, only 24% reported their lives had returned to normal.  17% thought they would eventually recover while nearly six in ten — 59% — said their lives would never be the same.

Looking at what residents think of New York City itself, 47% of residents say the city has not fully recovered since the September 11^th attacks.  28%, though, believe it is just as good as it was before the attacks while 26% report the city is even better.

In NY1-Marist’s previous survey, 48% said the city still needed healing, 28% believed New York City was back on par, and one in four — 25% — thought it was even better. Here, too, perceptions have improved since September 2004.  At that time, a majority — 54% — reported New York City had not fully recovered.  30%, at that time, believed it was just as good, and 16% said it was better than it had been before the attacks.

Table: Daily Life Since 9/11

Table: Daily Life Since 9/11 (Over Time)

Table: Status of NYC Since 9/11

Table: Status of NYC Since 9/11 (Over Time)

NY1-Marist Poll Methodology

5/4: Post Bin Laden: President Obama Applauded in NYC … Perceptions of City Life Little Changed

Many New York City residents flocked to the site of the World Trade Center in celebration on Sunday night after learning of Osama bin Laden’s death.  In the aftermath of the Al Qaeda leader’s death, President Barack Obama has received a bump in his approval rating in the Big Apple.  However, city dwellers do not necessarily feel safer within the five boroughs.

Click Here for Complete May 4, 2011 NYC NY1-Marist Poll Release and Tables

According to this NY1-Marist Poll, nearly seven in ten registered voters citywide — 69% — think President Barack Obama is doing either an excellent or good job in office.  Included here are 32% who say the commander in chief is doing an excellent job and 37% who report he is doing a good one.  16% rate his performance as fair while 12% think he is doing poorly.  Only 2% are unsure.

President Obama’s job approval rating in New York City has increased by 10 percentage points from just last week.  In a NY1-Marist Poll conducted in the days leading up to Osama bin Laden’s death, 59% of voters gave President Obama high marks, slightly more than one in four voters — 26% — said he was doing a fair job, and 14% thought Mr. Obama was doing a poor one.  Only 1%, at the time, was unsure.

“For New York City residents, the war on terror is not over, but they feel we just won a big battle,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.  “They are thankful for the president’s leadership.”

And, a majority of adults in New York City think President Obama deserves the amount of credit he is receiving for the death of Osama bin Laden.  More than six in ten New York City residents — 63% — believe the president is taking the right amount of credit while fewer than one in five — 18% — say he is taking too much credit for it.  11% say he is not taking enough credit, and 8% are unsure.

Table: Obama Approval Rating in NYC (May)
Table: Obama Approval Rating in NYC (April)
Table: Obama’s Credit for Osama Bin Laden’s Death

Sense of Safety Not Heightened for Majority Following Bin Laden’s Death

Despite the kudos many New York City residents are bestowing upon the president, there has been little change in their attitudes toward daily life.

A majority of New York City residents don’t personally feel safer in the aftermath of the killing of Osama bin Laden.  28% feel less safe, and 27% say his death makes no difference to their feeling of security.  However, a plurality — 38% — is experiencing an enhanced sense of security.  Seven percent are unsure.

When looking at the level of safety in the city itself, 37% feel the Big Apple is less safe following Sunday’s announcement, and an additional 17% report bin Laden’s death does not impact the city’s safety.  38% think the city is now safer, and 8% are unsure.

A majority of residents within the five boroughs — 51% — still think New York City is vulnerable to another terrorist attack.  Included here are 12% who are very worried about the possibility of another assault and 39% who are worried.  29%, though, are not very worried while 19% are not worried at all.

Little has changed on this question since last week, prior to Osama bin Laden’s death.  At that time, 53% of New York City adults expressed some worry about another attack in the Big Apple while 29% were not very worried, and 17% were not worried at all.

When thinking beyond the borders of New York City, 46% of New Yorkers have   a feeling of a more secure nation.  32% disagree and say the nation is less safe.  14% report Osama bin Laden’s death makes no difference, and 8% are unsure.

Residents offer similar opinions toward the security of the world.  More than four in ten — 43% — say the world is safer because Osama bin Laden is dead.  35% think global security is less while 14% believe it makes no difference.  Nine percent are unsure.

How did New York City residents feel upon hearing that Osama bin Laden had been killed?  Nearly four in ten residents — 39% — say they were happy.  24% were surprised, 10% felt excited, and 7% were relieved.  Three percent report they were indifferent while the same proportion — 3% — says the news conjured a sense of patriotism.  The feelings of sadness and worry each receive 2%.  One percent of city dwellers felt angry, and an additional 1% report they were confused.  Seven percent mention another emotion.

How did residents discover that bin Laden was dead?  A majority — 57% — found out via television.  10% heard the news over the radio while 9% were told by someone they were with.  An additional 7% received a phone call.  Six percent got the news on the Internet, and the same proportion — 6% — was notified via social media like Facebook or Twitter.  Three percent received a text message, and 2% read it in a newspaper.

Table: Personal Safety Following Osama Bin Laden’s Death
Table: Safety of NYC Following Osama Bin Laden’s Death
Table: Concern About Another Terrorist Attack (May)
Table: Concern About Another Terrorist Attack (April)
Table: Concern About Another Terrorist Attack Over Time

 

Table: Safety of the Nation Following Osama Bin Laden’s Death
Table: Safety of the World Following Osama Bin Laden’s Death
Table: Reaction to Osama Bin Laden’s Death
Table: How Residents Heard of Osama Bin Laden’s Death

Majority Say Daily Life Back to Normal, But City Has Not Healed

A majority of New York City residents — 54% — say their life has returned to normal in the years following the September 11^th, 2001 attacks.  10% report their lives will eventually return to normal, and 35% think their lives will never be the same.

There has been little change in these numbers since last week’s survey when 53% said their life has returned to normal, 10% reported their life will eventually be the same, and 37% thought their life would never be the same.

There has, though, been a change in opinion over the past few years.  When Marist last reported this question in August of 2007, just four in ten — 40% — thought their life was back on track.  13% believed their life would get back to normal while nearly half — 47% — said their life would never be the same.

However, residents think the city still needs healing.  Nearly half — 48% — say that the city has not fully recovered from the September 11^th attacks.  28% believe the city is just as good as it was before the attacks while 25% say it is even better.

When NY1-Marist asked this question last week, half of those in New York City — 50% — felt the city had not fully recovered from the attacks.  28% thought it was just as good, and 22% said it was even better than before the attacks.

Table: Daily Life Since 9/11 (May)
Table: Daily Life Since 9/11 (April)
Table: Daily Life Since 9/11 (Over Time)

Table: Status of NYC Since 9/11 (May)
Table: Status of NYC Since 9/11 (April)
Table: Status of NYC Since 9/11 (Over Time)

 

NY1-Marist Poll Methodology

 

9/10: Disaster Preparedness in the Aftermath of 9/11

Nine years after the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, how prepared is America for a terrorist attack?  Dr. Irwin Redlener heads the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, and he talks with the Marist Poll’s John Sparks about this and where he was on the day of the attacks.

Listen to the interview or read the transcript below.

John Sparks
Dr. Redlener, this week will mark the 9th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center.  Do you recall where you were and what you were doing then?

Listen to Part 1:

Irwin Redlener, MD
I do. I was at home with my wife.  We both were working at the Children’s Health Fund and at Montefiore Medical Center at the time.  I was president of a new children’s hospital, and we heard the first reports of the first plane going to the World Trade Center, and we were operating under the assumption that it was a small plane that had accidentally crashed into the World Trade Center. Then, we got in the car and listened to the news and driving across the Bruckner Expressway and seeing smoke from downtown.  We were coming down from Westchester.  It was apparent obviously that it was — something was far more worrisome than we originally thought, and we were hearing the reports about the — it was a jetliner and then it was two jetliners, both towers, and the collapse, and that’s what our experience was initially.

John Sparks
So what did you find yourself doing?  Did you do anything to help out in response to the attacks?

Irwin Redlener, MD
Yes, my organization managed a — at that point was a growing national network of mobile clinics for medically underserved and disadvantaged populations, and we had a number of them, I think, at that point, four or five mobile clinics in New York City.  So, I brought in the medical director, and I was — I’m president of the organization and Karen Redlener, my wife, is executive director, and we called in the medical director of our New York programs and asked him to organize two mobile units that we could send down to Lower Manhattan to be part of the triaging resources that were being developed down there.

John Sparks
So, you found yourself occupied for a number of days after that then I take it?

Irwin Redlener, MD
Yes.

John Sparks
The National Center for Disaster Preparedness that you head, was this operation you’re referring to that, at the time, grew into a more formal organization?

Irwin Redlener, MD
No, the National Center for Disaster Preparedness was initiated in 2003.  But right after 9/11, and I got very interested and concerned about our ability to respond to large scale disasters, and I established, as I say, I was president of the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore at the time, and I established a pediatric preparedness program for mass casualty events at Montefiore at the Children’s Hospital there, and so, that was running and growing and was the reason that the School of Public Health at Columbia recruited me to come over to Columbia and set up this new entity, which I called the National Center for Disaster Preparedness.

John Sparks
The new entity today, what kinds of things does it oversee now? Obviously, we were all taken completely off-guard with the attacks.  But I’m just curious what kind of preparedness that your National Center has developed since that time.

Listen to Part 2:

Irwin Redlener, MD
Well, first of all, we are concerned about the level of preparedness from top to bottom. We think that the policies and the resources are either inadequate or insufficient in a variety of ways at the top, and we think at the other end of the spectrum is a very unprepared citizen population with respect to what to do about disasters.  And, in between a lot of confusion about the role of state versus federal versus local government and so forth.  So, our center works on trying to sort out these issues with a goal toward making both local communities, but the country as a whole, prepared to deal with — either prepared to — able to prevent or prepare to deal with the consequences of disaster.  And recently we’ve gotten interested in the issue of recovery from large scale disasters which is basically almost an untouched aspect of preparedness that has to be now thought of in a lot more rigor than had been in the past.

John Sparks
So, nine years later, how prepared are we today to handle a similar event?

Irwin Redlener, MD
It’s a very mixed bag because in some ways we’re better, in some ways we haven’t made much progress, and there’s a lot to be concerned about still.  So, I think the report card would be a mix of passing and failing grades. I think we’re just at a point now where we’re starting to see more inter-operability among radio systems used by various respond organizations, like police and fire and EMS, but that’s been a long time in coming, and we’ve gotten more training for more people who are first responders, and that’s good.  We’ve made almost no progress in the level of preparedness of individuals.  If we had an exact repeat of the 9/11 events, there would be a lot of confusion about whether or not we’re going to have rescue and relief workers rushing into the pile, so to speak, as we had previously because we now know a lot more about the potential long-term consequences in terms of medical problems that arise from people who are working in unprotected ways and even the immediate search and rescue.  So, there’s a lot that’s different, but a lot that really remains as challenges.  Another instant issue is hospital preparedness, and we’ve made some progress there, but we’re very, very far behind on that aspect of where we should be now too.  So, it’s hard to give a straight answer, simple answer, but that’s where we are.

John Sparks
You mentioned individuals, I wanted to ask you what we as individuals can and should remember to do in case of an attack similar to what we experienced nine years ago.

Listen to Part 3:

Irwin Redlener, MD
Well, the recommendations have been pretty straightforward from soon after 9/11, which is to you know get a kit, make a plan and so forth about what you would do, and then know what the risks are and make — get a kit and make a plan for what you would do as individuals and as families, and the stockpiling of three days of food and water for each person who you’re responsible for. Those kinds of things are very straightforward. They’re found on — with the Red Cross site, on FEMA’s Web site and so forth, but there’s been very minimal uptake by the general public for even those basic directions, and part of that has to do with the fact that we don’t really know a lot about what motivates people to get prepared or not get prepared.  But, we’re still in some serious dilemma with respect to how to improve the preparedness levels of individuals.

John Sparks
Interesting that you mention what motivates people.  As we speak, the Marist Institute is out in the field polling New Yorkers and asking whether they still worry about another terrorist attack.

Irwin Redlener, MD
Yeah.

John Sparks
We don’t know the results of that poll quite yet.  We’re out in the field with it, but I know that you certainly with your responsibilities are concerned about another attack. But, do you get the feeling that most New Yorkers still worry about another attack?

Irwin Redlener, MD
Not in any kind of overt way, and I think they’re more worried about jobs and that sort of thing than they are about a terrorist attack, and I think that’s not just New York. I think it’s probably true generally in the country.

John Sparks
Anything in particular that you might want to add that you’re looking into as an organization or trying to shore up in anticipation should we have another attack?

Irwin Redlener, MD
Well, one of the things I’m most concerned about is the state of hospital and health system readiness for a major attack or a bio-terrorism event, or even just a pandemic not caused by terrorism, and we just seem to be really struggling to find the resources to make — to really expand or to really enhance the level of preparedness, and that’s one of the things we are most definitely working on.

John Sparks
You know that reminds me that, as you recall, coincidental to the attack, we had the anthrax episodes.  That kind of falls into hospitals, I think, because that’s clearly something that we don’t have under control either today.

Irwin Redlener, MD
That’s correct, so there’s more of these areas that we don’t quite have a handle on than I expected to be the case at this point.

John Sparks
Is there anything else that you want to add?

Irwin Redlener, MD
Yeah, one of the other big issues is that we haven’t spent enough time focusing on the needs of populations that might be particularly vulnerable and especially children.  Our children make up 25% of the U.S. population, but they’re still very much marginalized when it comes to planning for major disasters, and that’s a problem because the needs of children can be very, very different medically and psychologically and everything else.  And one of the things that has been done, a couple years ago there was an establishment of a National Commission on Children’s Disasters, which is a federally appointed body…  I happen to be on it… that’s  actually looking to that particular aspect of disaster planning and what are we doing for our children, and there’s quite a lot of work still left to be done in that arena as well.

9/10: September 11th Nine Years Later

Nine years have passed since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.  Are New York City residents concerned about another attack?  How much progress has been made in rebuilding the World Trade Center site?  Political reporter Jay DeDapper spoke with the Marist Poll’s John Sparks.

Listen to the interview or read the full transcript below.

Listen:

John Sparks
Let’s talk about Mayor Bloomberg’s predecessor just for a moment, Rudy Giuliani.  Rudy was certainly at center stage following the attacks on 9/11.  You and I were there at NBC covering it that day, and we’ve got the ninth anniversary of the attack coming up next week.  The Marist Poll asked New Yorkers if they’re worried about another major terrorist attack in New York City.  I’m no longer in New York. I don’t have any idea.  You are.  Any thoughts on that?  Are they in fact concerned about another attack?

Jay DeDapper
I mean, I haven’t seen any polling on this, so this is more of a gut check than it is something based on any data.  I don’t really hear that.  I don’t hear it from anybody in conversation that I overhear, in conversations I have with people, in policymakers, in cocktail party conversations, whatever.  Wherever I hear people talking or wherever I talk to people, I don’t really hear that. I think that that moment, that that fear has, as you would expect, has ebbed pretty substantially even.  And, the reason I think that is that with what happened in Times Square not long ago with the truck that — the pickup truck attempted bombing, it was very, very quickly that things returned to normal.  It wasn’t like after 9/11 where normal was many years later.  It was within a week people were back in Times Square.  People weren’t talking about it, being worried about it.  People… you didn’t hear people fretting about what would happen, put together your emergency kit.  Do you have your plans in case something happens?  None of that was discussed as it was after 9/11, so I don’t think that New Yorkers right now are particularly concerned about that.

John Sparks
Now, what’s going on down at the site of the Towers?  Where do things stand right now as far as any rebuilding?

Jay DeDapper
The rebuilding has obviously taken a very long time to get going. But the Freedom Tower, which is the — kind of the centerpiece of this in terms of the rebuilding that is most obvious and most visible … the steel is well above the ground.  There’s several hundred feet above ground, and it is on track for an opening in a couple of years.  They’ve signed some big leases to have tenants in there, and there has been talk among private real estate interest in buying into it, in buying some sort of a way into it from the Port Authority because … you’ve got to believe that private real estate investors are interested.  They see this as a viable building.  That’s the commercial side of it. There are three other towers. One of them is also going up.  Two others are delayed, and there’s a long battle that’s been going on with Larry Silverstein who’s the leaseholder of the World Trade Center, and that has not been resolved. All these years later, two of the four towers, who knows if they’re ever going to be built.  The actual site, though remember, most of the actual site is going to be turned over to the memorial.  And if you go there now, you can see not just the outlines of the reflecting pools that are going to be built where the two towers stood, you actually see the entire form. They are very far along on the memorial. It took a very long time to build the understructure of this, because there’s parking garages, there’s security, there’s a PATH train system, there’s all kinds of things that had to be built underground. They have done that, and they’re at ground level and the memorial, if you go down there now, the memorial, you can see what the memorial’s going to look like because the structure is in place.  It’s going to take awhile to finish, but they’re on track to open that on time now as well.  So, there’s been real progress in the last year and a half, real visible progress, that I think for people who visit the site, I think it’s reassuring that finally they’ve gotten past the morass of four or five years of nothing happening, and things seem to be happening pretty quickly now.

John Sparks
As you and I are speaking, Marist is also polling asking people if they feel the government has done too much or too little take care of the families of the 9/11 victims and those first responders who worked in the days following the attacks. We really don’t have an idea of what those results will tell us. Do you have any feel for this from the people that you talk to?

Jay DeDapper
Well, I mean nationally or locally, I think that it’s hard to find …  you would be hard pressed to find people who are going to vociferously talk about how the first responders haven’t — we haven’t done enough for the first responders. Whether people think privately though that that is the case, I don’t know, and I don’t know if you’re going to find that in polling. It’s a super sensitive issue. It’s a live wire still. I think that we’ve seen, at least politically, that bills that have been advanced to fund to the tune of several billion dollars additional medical help and other kinds of help for first responders that were there and that are suffering medically, I think you’ve seen opposition of that and politically from politicians who aren’t from the Northeast and aren’t from New York. Whether that reflects a broader measure of their constituents’ feeling like this is welfare for first responders on Ground Zero, I don’t know. I don’t know that you’re going to get that answer in polling, but certainly there has been evidence of that, at least politically there’s been evidence of what’s been called first responder fatigue by some commentators.

John Sparks
I’d like to ask you one more thing.  A number of folks I talk to miss seeing you at NBC and I’m just curious about what kind of things you’re up to these days.

Jay DeDapper
I’ve been running a production company, video production company, and we’re making videos, especially for the Web, for lots of clients — nonprofits, organizations, companies, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot of fun to make videos that are different than what I’ve done for the 20-25 years I was in television news. Branching out from everything from doing cooking things with chefs to a biography of a huge soccer star for a sports network, so it’s been a lot of fun doing different kinds of things and I’m enjoying that a lot.

John Sparks
So if anyone was interested in engaging your services, do you have a Web site, a company name?

Jay DeDapper
Yeah, dedappermedia.com.  Last name D-E-D-A-P-P-E-R Media dot.com.  That’s the Web site.  And of course, I still keep my hand in politics at Get Real, my blog, which is at jaydedapper.com, and I try and keep away from the incendiary and stick with the facts with that. I don’t get to file as often I’d like to there because my company takes a lot of my time, but I can’t quite break from my past and I like to get a word in edgewise every now and then. So, I post on that fairly — as often as I can.

11/17: New Yorkers Divide Over Terror Trial Location

Eight years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Obama Administration has announced that five alleged attackers will be tried in federal court in the shadows of where the World Trade Towers once stood, New York City.

New Yorkers are speaking out about the venue for the trial, but there is a split decision on the matter.  45% of residents think it’s a good idea to have the trial in New York City while 41% believe it’s a bad one.  14% just aren’t sure.

Table: Terror Trial in NYC – Good or Bad Idea?
Click Here for Complete November 17th, 2009 NYC Poll Release and Tables

City Residents Weigh Security Risk of Terror Trial

What about the risk of future terrorist attacks?  Although 47% say the location of the trial will not affect the likelihood of another terrorist attack occurring in New York City, a significant proportion are concerned the trial will put a bull’s eye on the city.  In fact, 40% believe having the trial in New York City will increase the possibility of another terrorist attack in the area.  7% think it will be less of a target, and another 6% are unsure about the implications of the trial for the city’s security.

Most New York City residents — 67% — are confident law enforcement officials will be able to handle the potential security risks associated with such a high profile trial in Manhattan.  22% don’t have as much faith.  This is the proportion of residents who believe New York City is not well equipped to handle the situation.  11% are unsure.

When it comes to their personal safety, a majority — 52% — of New York City residents don’t think it will impact their own security.  34% think the trial will compromise their personal safety and put them in greater danger, and 8% report it will put them in less danger.  6% are unsure.

Table: NYC More of a Target?
Table: Confidence in NYC to Handle Security Risks
Table: Personal Safety

Marist Poll Methodology

Related Stories:

Poll finds broad support among New Yorkers for death penalty in Khalis Shaikh Mohammed terror case from the NY Daily News

4/27: Obama’s Policy — Voters Weigh In

If President Barack Obama’s 100th day benchmark were the end of a school semester, Mr. Obama would receive high grades from a majority — 58% — of voters nationwide.  In a poll conducted in 2001, President Bush received a similar report card from the electorate.

When evaluating Barack Obama’s term in office so far, 23% of voters say they would give the president an “A,” and 35% think he has earned a “B.”  Just 11% of the electorate say he deserves a failing grade.  Partisanship plays a role in voters’ views.  86% of Democrats would give the president either a grade of “A” or “B” while just 22% of Republicans would do the same.  Instead, 44% of Republicans give the president a grade of “D” or “F.”

Table: Grade Given to Barack Obama
Table: Grade Given to George W. Bush

55% Approve of Handling of Economic Crisis

But, how does the president fare on specific policy issues?  The nation’s economic crisis has dominated news headlines, and 55% of the electorate report they approve of how President Obama is dealing with it.  41%, however, disapprove.  Many voters, though, do not think he is the one to blame for the nation’s current financial situation.  80% of the electorate believe Mr. Obama inherited today’s economic conditions compared with 14% who say the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the Obama Administration including 73% of Republicans.  Voters’ opinions on this topic closely reflect those measured in The Marist Poll’s April 8th survey.

Unemployment and the housing crisis have been major concerns for the country.  So, are voters satisfied with the way the president is addressing these issues?   A majority of registered voters — 55% — say they approve of the way in which Mr. Obama is handling the problem of unemployment compared with more than one-third — 35% — who disapprove.  Looking at the mortgage crisis and home foreclosures, voters are more closely divided.  Nearly half — 49% — approve of how the president is dealing with the issue compared with 43% who disapprove.

Table: Handling Economic Crisis
Table: Current Economic Issues Inherited?
Table: Handling of Unemployment
Table: Handling of Mortgage Crisis and Home Foreclosures

More Than Six in Ten Approve of Policies in Iraq and Afghanistan

On specific foreign policy issues, President Obama receives strong support.  63% of voters approve of the way the president is handling the war in Afghanistan compared with 25% who say they disapprove.  The proportion of those who agree with Mr. Obama on this issue has increased since The Marist Poll’s April 8th survey.  Regarding the war in Iraq, 66% of voters approve of how the president is dealing with the situation.

56% of voters think President Obama is handling homeland security and anti-terrorism well.

Lately, there has been a new foreign policy issue on the president’s plate — piracy.  How do voters think President Obama is dealing with military action against piracy?  On this international concern partisan politics stop at the water’s edge.  The president receives all-around high marks.  More than seven in ten approve of his actions including 61% of Republicans.

Table: Handling the War in Afghanistan
Table: Handling the War in Iraq
Table: Homeland Security and Anti-Terrorism
Table: Military Action Against Piracy

Getting Down to the Nitty-Gritty: Voters Opinions Toward Specific Policy Actions

During his first 100 days in office, President Obama has taken on many hot button issues.  Did voters agree with his actions?  More than three-quarters — 76% — say the president hit the mark in ordering the Environmental Protection Agency to institute higher fuel efficiency standards including six in ten Republicans.  On another hotly contested issue, stem cell research, 67% approve of the president’s move to provide federal funding toward its advancement.

Looking at the passage of the economic stimulus package, nearly six in ten voters — 59% — see it as a victory bolstered by 85% of Democrats who characterize it this way.  In contrast, 67% of Republicans disapprove.  A majority of voters — 57% — approve of President Obama’s firing of General Motors’ CEO Rick Wagoner.

What about the approval of the bill making it easier for workers to sue for pay discrimination?  55% of registered voters say the president took the right action compared with 34% who disapprove of the measure.

Many voters — 63% — approve of President Obama’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan including many Democrats and Independents, and most Republicans.  One policy initiative that does not receive majority support from voters is the closing of Guantanamo Bay prison.  The electorate divides.  48% approve of President Obama’s order to do so, and 46% disapprove.

Table: Higher Fuel Efficiency Standards
Table: Stem Cell Research
Table: Passage of Stimulus Package
Table: Firing of the CEO of General Motors
Table: Pay Discrimination
Table: Closing of Guantanamo Bay Prison
Table: Additional Troops to Afghanistan
Comparison Table of Other National Polls

Playing Nice and Pulling the Strings

Although a majority of registered voters nationwide think President Obama is trying to compromise with Republican leaders in Congress on important issues, 35% don’t think he is reaching across the aisle.  Not surprisingly, a majority of Republicans believe Mr. Obama is playing too much party politics.  And, how much control over Mr. Obama does the Democratic leadership in Congress have?  According to two-thirds of registered voters, a lot!  67% report Congressional Democrats have a great deal or a good amount of control over the president.  Although it’s not a shock that more than three-quarters of Republicans feel this way, what may be surprising is that a majority — 63% — of Democrats agree.

Table: Compromising with Congressional Republicans?
Table: Controlled by Democratic Leadership in Congress?

A Fork in the Road?

And, when looking at the overall direction of the country, voters evenly divide.  44% think things are headed in the right direction, and the same proportion reports the country is moving down the wrong path.

Table: Right Direction or Wrong Direction of the Country?

Marist Poll Methodology

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