Barack Obama

muriel_volestrangler

(102,477 posts) Fri Sep 5, 2014, 04:55 PM Sep 2014

Barack Obama still beloved in Britain

(thought this group would like this; it was a poll I took part in)

On the measure of overall job approval, two-thirds of the British public continue to say Barack Obama is doing well, while just a fifth say he isn’t. His net approval rating of +49 is actually down slightly from +56 in June of this year and +64 at the time of his re-election in 2012, but it remains sky-high compared to UK leaders like David Cameron (-12) or Barack Obama’s own approval rating back home in America (also -12 in the latest YouGov USA poll).

But the more dramatic contrast comes when Obama is compared to George W. Bush. In November 2003, George W. Bush made his own visit to the UK, but it was considered highly controversial. Public opinion had already begun to turn against the invasion of Iraq, which took place in March of that year, and Bush’s arrival in London was met with anti-war demonstrations.

At the time YouGov asked a series of questions about Bush, questions that have been repeated today about President Obama. The survey finds that most British people see Obama as “highly intelligent” (77%), “sincere” (71%) and “well-informed” (67%). He’s also widely seen to be a “good advertisement for America” (68%) and a “good friend to Britiain” (53%). In 2003, British people made the opposite judgment of Obama’s predecessor on each of these measures, with one exception – the public was divided 40%-40% on whether George Bush was a good friend to Britain.

The one measure where opinion is divided on Obama, whether he cares about the views of people in other countries (36% yes to 36% no), is the most negative measure for Bush (10% yes to 82% no).