The Washington Post shows a modest jump in Obama's approval rating.
In the immediate aftermath of the targeted killing of Osama bin Laden, President Obama’s approval rating has jumped higher, with big increases in the number of Americans giving him high marks on dealing with terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan.
But the new poll, conducted Monday evening by The Washington Post and the Pew Research Center, also finds virtually no movement in Obama’s numbers when it comes to handling the economy. That suggests that success on one front — even one as important as the death of the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — might not translate easily to other areas.
Overall, 56 percent of those polled say they approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president, an increase of nine percentage points over April polls by Post-ABC News and Pew.
In certain areas, his poll numbers get a real bounce.
The president gets big bounces on dealing with Afghanistan, with his approval rating soaring to 60 percent, and on handling the threat of terrorism, where he recorded a career high of 69 percent.
More than three-quarters of all Americans say the president deserves credit for the killing of the bin Laden in Pakistan on Sunday. Among Republicans, 61 percent say Obama deserves at least some credit for the move. But just 17 percent of them say he deserves a “great deal” of credit for bringing bin Laden to justice after a nearly 10-year pursuit by U.S. intelligence and military forces.Republicans are more apt to give former president George W. Bush acclaim for killing bin Laden ...
And independents? Well, Republicans have something new to worry about that doesn't fit into their fantasies. Independents' approval rating for Obama has gone up 10 points during the past month.
"Finally," "justice," and "relief" dominate the word cloud developing after the bin Laden event over at WaPo. On the other hand, comparing 2011 with 2001 we've shown that, for insta-popularity, a president has to stuff a sock down his pants and start two wars. Honest, fellow Americans, it's time to chuck the TV and get a life.
The New York Times offers a different way of expressing your reaction. Not a word cloud but a way to express your "emotional reaction" on a crowded graph.