AMERICANS ARE overwhelmingly optimistic about Barack Obama and are pinning their hopes for recovery from a massive economic collapse on the president-elect, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
However, a Reuters poll reveals the US is viewed favourably by the majority in only two of 21 other countries with large economies.
Nearly eight in 10 of those surveyed in the Post-ABC poll say the country is headed seriously off course.
Seven in 10 worry about their family’s finances, and 94 per cent say the country’s economy is in “not so good” or “poor” shape, the most negative assessment in more than 23 years of Post-ABC polling.
More than half of all Americans have high hopes for Obama’s presidency. Almost three-quarters of the public say his proposals will improve the struggling economy, and about eight in 10 have a favourable view of him – more than twice the number now holding positive views of President Bush.
In the Reuters poll, India and Poland, along with the US, were the only countries with majorities giving America a favourable rating.
The online poll of 22,000 people was conducted for Reuters by Ipsos Global Public Affairs, an international market research and polling company, in late November, weeks after Obama was elected to succeed President Bush. The nations with the strongest unfavourable views overall of the United States were Russia and Turkey, followed by Argentina, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. – (Washington Post/Los Angeles Times service and Reuters)