US President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks on the economy and an extension of the payroll tax cut at Osawatomie High School December 6, 2011 in Osawatomie, Kansas.
Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images/2011 AFP
According to the latest Gallup poll, President Obama’s job performance got more thumbs up than down for the first time in a long time. The survey says that 47 percent of Americans approve of the job Obama is doing, compared with 45 percent who do not; Politico notes that this is a 5 percent bump from a mid-December polling, and the first time that Americans’ approval has been overall positive since last July. Perhaps Obama is getting credit for the payroll tax cut extension that the House GOP threatened to kill. Or maybe poll respondents were just hopped up on eggnog and wanting to give the guy a pat on the back.
