WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama is enjoying a 50% approval rate, according to a Washington Post-ABC poll published on Tuesday. The president should also be satisfied as top-level Jewish fundraisers from his 2008 campaign are sticking with him in 2012, Jewish newspaper Forward reported.
According to the paper, despite reports that Obama faces a loss of Jewish funders due to his Middle East policy, analysis of a list of elite bundlers from his 2008 race shows no defections among the president’s top Jewish supporters in 2012.
The Washington Post-ABC poll shows that 49% of Americans approve of the job he is doing, for the first time since March, when he announced the assassination of Osama bin Laden, and after a rough summer at the polls. In October, his approval ratings were as low as 42%.
The poll should come as good news for Obama as former US President George W. Bush enjoyed a 47% approval rate three months prior to the 2004 elections.
The new poll indicates that 52% of Americans are pessimistic about the economy, but 62% are optimistic about their own financial situation in 2012.
Another poll shows Obama just slightly ahead of the two leading Republican candidates, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich with 48%-50% of American votes. The latest CNN poll has a bigger gap with Obama beating Romney 52% - 45% and Gingrich 56% - 40%.
Earlier this month, Obama met with Jewish donors in New York at the home of Jack Rosen, chairman of the American Council for World Jewry and stressed the importance of Israel as a US ally.
Last week, Obama addressed the Union of Reform Judaism and focused on the US's unprecedented support of Israel during his tenure.
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