Obama Benefiting from Growing Optimism

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll finds that Americans are growing more optimistic about the economy and the overall direction of the economy.

Some of the poll's key results:

• More people said they believe the economy will get better (37 percent) in the next year rather than worse (17 percent). That represents a reversal from October, when 32 percent of Americans said they expected the economy to get worse, versus 21 percent who expected improvement.
• The number of people who said the country is headed in the right direction is just 30 percent, but that's up eight points from last month, and 13 points from October.
• For the first time in six months, more people approve of the job the president is doing (48 percent) than disapprove (46 percent).

With numbers like these staring them in the face, it might seem like congressional Republicans  have no choice but to continue to block anything the President proposes. The only program with that is that congress' approval ratings are still at their all-time low, party as a result of the Republicans' obstructionist actions. 

The Republicans find themselves in a major pickle: any attempt on their part to look like they're cooperating with the other side will anger their base-- not a good move before an election. On the other hand, independents and moderates are starting to pay real attention to electoral politics due to the upcoming election. As the President and congress battle things out over the coming months, they'll be taking notice.

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