Quinnipiac Poll: Obama's Approval Highest in 4 Years

Even though Democrats lost in this year's presidential election, President Barack Obama's job approval rating soared to its highest level in four years, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released Monday.

But the poll found mixed reviews on how the president dealt with specific issues and noted the Democratic Party received a higher negative rating than the Republican Party.

"President Barack Obama's final score card is a passing grade overall, but barely," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

"Are the GOP's favorability scores an endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump's change agent status? It could well be that despite Obama's largely positive exit numbers Americans say it's time to turn the page," Malloy added.

The breakdown of the survey results show:

• Americans approve 50-43 percent of the job Obama is doing — his highest score since Dec. 6, 2012 after he won reelection.
• 22 percent of those polled say Obama has been a "great" president, while another 33 percent say he has been a good president. A combined 45 percent say he was "not so good" or has been a "bad" president.
• Just 21 percent say Obama's policies have help their personal financial situations, while 33 percent say those policies have hurt them. Another 44 percent say his policies have made no difference
• 44 percent say the president's policies have helped the economy. Another 38 percent say his policies have hurt the nation's economy, while 16 percent say he has made no difference.

But as the highest-elected Democrat in the nation, Obama could still not win back the trust for his party among those surveyed.

For the first time in two years, the GOP had a better rating among those surveyed than the Democrats — even though both parties were rated negatively.

And those surveyed were not satisfied with the state of affairs in the U.S.

Other results:

• Only 27 percent are "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with the way things are going today. Another 72 percent are "somewhat dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied."
• But 39 percent say the economy is excellent or "good," while 60 percent say it is "not so good" or "poor." Still this is the best score on the economy since Dec. 2003.
• The Republican Party fares better than the Democrats with a negative rating of 38-50 percent compared to a 35-56 score.
• 30 percent of those polled say the economy is getting better, while another 24 percent say it is getting worse. Forty-five percent say it is staying the same.
• Asked if they are better off than a year ago, 39 percent said yes, compared to 30 percent who say they are worse off. Another 29 percent say they are the same.

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