Obama: 'Right direction,' expectations

by Mark Silva

President Barack Obama will hoist the bullhorn of his office tonight with substantial support from the public at a time of worsening financial distress.

Two-thirds of Americans surveyed by Opinion Research Corp. say they "think the policies being proposed by Barack Obama will move the country in the right direction,'' according to CNN.

Just 31 percent say the president, who has won a massive, $787-billion spending plan for economic stimulus and is offering another $275 billion in relief for the home mortgage market and homeowners at risk of foreclosure, is taking the country in the wrong direction.

Yet the expectations for Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress tonight at 9 pm EST, while high, are not as high as those held by the public for the president's inaugural address. In the Feb. 18-19 survey by Opinion Research, 28 percent said they are expecting an "excellent'' speech from the president tonight, 44 percent a good speech - that compares with 44 percent who expected an excellent inaugural address and 41 percent who expected a good one when surveyed in January.

And 62 percent of those surveyed said they think it's somewhat or very likely that the president's speech will make them "feel more confident about the future of the nation's economy.''

Few expect disappointment: Just 4 percent expecting a "poor'' speech, and 4 percent a "terrible'' one.

The survey of 1,046 adults run Feb. 18-19 carries a possible margin of error of 3 percentage points: CNN poll Feb 24.doc

While three in four Americans surveyed tell the Gallup Poll that they are "most eager'' to hear what Obama has to say, their interests are wide-ranging - though largely centered on the economy:

 18 percent want to hear the president talk about jobs, unemployment and job creation, 15 percent want to hear him talk about the banking situation and financial bailouts, 14 percent want to hear about the stimulus and how it will be spent, 11 percent want to hear about the housing crisis and plans for solving it, 10 percent want to hear about health care.

 The Gallup survey conducted Feb. 20-22 with USA Today noted that the economy was mentioned in various ways by 74 percent of the people surveyed.

"While the economic downturn is clearly issue No. 1 for the president and Congress to deal with right now, a third of Americans remain interested in what Obama has to say on at least one non-economic issue,'' Gallup reports. "Chief among these is the United States' military involvement in Iraq (4 percent), Afghanistan (3 percent), or both (5 percent). Another 3 percent want Obama to discuss U.S. foreign policy, 2 percent say national defense, and 1 perecent cite the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the Middle East. All told, 17 percent of those surveyed name at least one of these policy fronts.

Gallup also notes that 78 percent of those surveyed hold a negative view of economic conditions in the country - similar to what the CNN/Opinion Research poll reported this week.

The Gallup survey of 1,013 adults also carries a 3 percent possible margin of error.