Polls: America, Obama, Dems Less Respected ?

The Washington Times reports The Democracy Corps just released a study that shows that the United States is less respected than it was a few years ago. The poll also reportedly shows that Obama and Democrats are favored less than Republicans on issues of national security.

However, the polls have the President’s approval ratings high in many areas of national security, higher than his overall approval ratings. Nonetheless, there is apparently some concern with how other areas are being handled.

The study showed the following:

While his overall approval rating stands at 47 percent (down 1 point from Democracy Corps’ January survey), more than half of all likely voters approve of the president’s handling of Afghanistan (58 percent), national security (57 percent), “leading America’s military” (57 percent), “improving America’s standing in the world” (55 percent), fighting terrorism (54 percent), and Iraq (54 percent). These are strong figures at a time when America is fighting two wars abroad and continuing to face an active terrorist threat.

The poll certainly shows that most Americans think Obama is doing a better job on national security than Bush did.

Public opinion is so fickle, and can be swayed by so many nuanced factors. The study showed that fears about the economy are leading to negative evaluations of our standing in the world, and Obama’s job approval.

Let us not forget that public opinion and objective analysis are rarely one in the same. After all, how can the American people make a fair observation about national security when only 21% know who Robert Gates is.?