Fifty-four percent of those polled said they approved of Obama's handling of the negotiations. Poll: Obama gets budget-deal credit

Nearly six in 10 Americans say they back the budget deal reached by the White House and congressional Republicans late last week, and are giving a bit more credit to President Barack Obama than they are to members of Congress from either party.

Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed over the weekend for a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday said they approve of the deal that includes $38.5 billion in spending cuts through the rest of fiscal 2011, while 38 percent said they disapprove.


Support for the deal is stronger among Democrats — 66 percent of whom said they backed it — than it is among Republicans, 47 percent of whom said they support it. Fifty-six percent of independents said they’re in favor of the deal.

Overall, Americans give Obama and congressional Democrats more credit for making the deal happen, with 48 percent of those surveyed crediting them for the deal. Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, get the credit from 35 percent of those surveyed. Another 11 percent credited both sides equally.

While ratings for Obama’s handling of a potential government shutdown are favorable, with 54 percent saying they approve of how he handled negotiations (45 percent disapprove), his overall ratings have dropped in recent weeks. In mid-March, his approval rating was 51 percent and his disapproval rating was 47 percent. This weekend, his approval in the CNN poll had fallen to 48 percent and his disapproval had climbed to 50 percent.

House Speaker John Boehner, who many are identifying as the big winner in the negotiations, doesn’t get such positive marks from those surveyed: 41 percent approve of the job he’s doing, while 44 percent disapprove and 15 percent have no opinion.

The budget saga was also less favorable to the other members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. Asked separately about congressional Republicans and congressional Democrats, those surveyed had equal assessments — 44 percent said they approved of each party, while 54 percent said they disapproved.

Majorities of those surveyed sided with Democrats on specific issues raised in policy riders attached to the budget bill. On whether the federal government should continue to fund Planned Parenthood, 65 percent were in favor, while 34 percent were opposed. On funding the Environmental Protection Agency, 71 percent expressed approval while 28 percent expressed opposition. And, on funding provisions of Obama’s health care law, 58 percent said the government should continue to do so, while 41 percent said it shouldn’t.

The poll was conducted April 9-10 and surveyed 824 adults. The error margin is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

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