US President Barack Obama speaks during the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism February 18, 2015 in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
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(CNN) —
Americans’ growing optimism about the nation’s economy has not boosted President Barack Obama’s approval ratings, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. The President’s ratings for handling the economy have held steady, and the share who approve of his efforts to help the middle class has risen slightly, but more continue to disapprove than approve of his work on the nation’s economic problems.
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
U.S. President Barack Obama attends the Nuclear Security Summit in the Hague, Netherlands, in March 2014. As Obama's second term nears its close, here's a look at some key moments of his administration.
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Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
First lady Michelle Obama brushes specks from the coat of then-Sen. Obama in Springfield, Illinois, just before he announced his candidacy for President in February 2007. Their daughters Malia, left, and Sasha wait in the foreground.
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Pete Souza/Chicago Tribune/MCT/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama appears on "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert, right, in Des Moines, Iowa, in November 2007.
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Eric Thayer/Getty Images for Meet the Press
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama shakes hands with supporters after addressing a rally in Concord, New Hampshire, in January 2008.
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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama gives a speech at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia in March 2008.
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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama speaks at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.
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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama stands on stage in Chicago with his family after winning the presidential election on November 4, 2008.
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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama poses in the Oval Office with several former U.S. Presidents in January 2009. From left are George H. W. Bush, Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama is sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts as the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009.
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
As retired military officers stand behind him, Obama signs an executive order to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2009.
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Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden look at solar panels as they tour the solar array at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on February 17, 2009. That same day, Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
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JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
A soldier hugs Obama during his surprise visit to Camp Victory just outside Baghdad, Iraq, in April 2009.
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama bends over so the son of a White House staff member can pat his head during a visit to the Oval Office in May 2009. The boy wanted to know if Obama's hair felt like his.
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Pete Souza/White House
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama kisses Sonia Sotomayor's cheek after announcing her as his nominee for Supreme Court justice in May 2009.
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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Palestinian security forces in Jenin, West Bank, listen to Obama speak from Cairo University in Egypt in June 2009. The Palestinian Authority hailed as a "good beginning" Obama's speech to the Muslim world in which he reiterated his support for a Palestinian state.
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SAIF DAHLAH/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama and the first lady meet with Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City in July 2009.
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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama hosts the Apollo 11 astronauts -- from left, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong -- in the Oval Office on July 20, 2009. It was the 40th anniversary of the moon landing.
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Police Sgt. James Crowley, second right, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, speaks with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., second left, alongside Obama and Biden as they share beers on the South Lawn of the White House in July 2009. The so-called Beer Summit was held after Crowley arrested Gates at his own home, which sparked tensions and racial furor.
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SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama salutes during the transfer of Sgt. Dale R. Griffin at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, in October 2009. Obama traveled to the base to meet the plane carrying the bodies of 18 U.S. personnel killed in Afghanistan.
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SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama walks along the Great Wall of China in November 2009.
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SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama delivers a speech after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, in December 2009.
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JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama and former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush walk to the White House Rose Garden to speak about relief efforts for earthquake-stricken Haiti in January 2010.
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Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
First daughters Sasha and Malia Obama play in the snow with their father after a snowstorm hit Washington in February 2010.
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Pete Souza/White House
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama's signature on the Affordable Care Act is seen at the White House in March 2010.
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Chuck Kennedy/White House
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama throws out the opening pitch before a baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals in April 2010.
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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama and his daughter Sasha swim in Panama City Beach, Florida, in August 2010, to encourage people to come back to the Gulf Coast after a devastating oil spill.
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Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama laughs as he makes a statement on his birth certificate in April 2011. Obama said he was amused over conspiracy theories about his birthplace, and he said the media's obsession with the "sideshow" issue was a distraction in a "serious time."
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JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama, Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the national security team receive live updates on the mission to capture or kill Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011.
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Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
U.S. Marines watch from Afghanistan as Obama announces the death of bin Laden on May 2, 2011.
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BAY ISMOYO/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama enjoys a pint of Guinness in his ancestral home of Moneygall, Ireland, in May 2011.
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Irish Government/Pool/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama and the first lady meet with Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, at Buckingham Palace in May 2011.
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Charles Dharapak/WPA Pool/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon walk together in May 2011 during a tour of the tornado devastation in Joplin, Missouri.
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama delivers remarks to troops and military families at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on December 14, 2011, marking the exit of U.S. soldiers from Iraq.
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JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama pays for a dog toy as he shops with his dog Bo at a PetSmart in Alexandria, Virginia, in December 2011.
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Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama sits on the famed Rosa Parks bus at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, in April 2012.
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Pete Souza/White House Photo via Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
British Prime Minister David Cameron, Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others watch the overtime shootout of the Champions League final between Chelsea and Bayern Munich in a conference room at Camp David, Maryland, during a G-8 Summit in May 2012.
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Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama sits in his chair during a Cabinet meeting in July 2012. This image was tweeted by his official Twitter account in August 2012 in response to Clint Eastwood's "empty chair" speech at the Republican National Convention. The tweet simply said, "This seat's taken."
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Pete Souza/White House
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama casts a shadow in this picture as he accepts the 2012 Democratic nomination for President during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in September 2012.
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Win McNamee/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney participate in the first presidential debate of the 2012 election.
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SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama celebrates on stage in Chicago after defeating Romney on Election Day in 2012.
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JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama pauses during his speech at a memorial service for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in December 2012.
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Hundreds of thousands gather at the U.S. Capitol building as Obama is inaugurated for his second term on January 21, 2013.
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Charles Ommanney/Reportage by Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, stand with Obama after Obama arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, in March 2013.
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama adjusts an umbrella held by a Marine during a White House news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May 2013.
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Charles Dharapak/AP
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Jay Leno interviews Obama on "The Tonight Show" in August 2013.
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Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
White House press secretary Jay Carney fields questions from reporters during a daily press briefing at the White House in September 2013. Obama had just pushed for congressional approval for limited military strikes against the Syrian government.
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis interviews Obama during his appearance on "Between Two Ferns," a digital video series with a laser focus on reaching people aged 18 to 34. The President urged young people to sign up for his new health care plan in the video posted on the website Funny or Die.
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Funny Or Die/AP
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama walks to the Oval Office on August 7, 2014, the same day he announced the beginning of airstrikes on ISIS.
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SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama speaks to the nation about normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba in December 2014.
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Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
From left, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Speaker John Boehner listen as Obama speaks during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 13, 2015.
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Alex Wong/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama responds to a heckler who interrupted his speech during a White House reception for LGBT Pride Month in June 2015.
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SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama cries in January 2016 as he delivers a statement on his executive action to reduce gun violence.
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JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Cuban President Raul Castro tries to lift up Obama's arm at the end of a joint news conference in Havana, Cuba, in March 2016. Castro hailed Obama's opposition to a long-standing economic "blockade," but said it would need to end before ties between the two countries are fully normalized.
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NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama visits Prince William, Duchess Catherine and their son, Prince George, during a trip to London in April 2016.
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Kensington Palace/PA Wire via Getty Images
Photos: Barack Obama's presidency
Obama hugs Hillary Clinton after speaking at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016. Obama told the crowd at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center that Clinton is ready to be commander in chief. "For four years, I had a front-row seat to her intelligence, her judgment and her discipline," he said, referring to Clinton's stint as secretary of state.
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David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Ratings of current economic conditions remain mixed, with 48% describing them as good and 52% as poor, but that’s significantly better than one year ago. In February 2014, just 36% said the economy was in good shape, 64% called it poor. Looking forward, optimism for the future of the economy has grown. The new poll finds 56% say things will be in good shape a year from now, up from 52% in October and the largest share to say so in CNN/ORC polls during Obama’s second term.
That optimism comes after several months of positive economic news. The unemployment rate has remained below 6% since September, the stock market is well above where it was a year ago and average gas prices nationally remain more than a dollar per gallon below their average last February.
Still, most disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy (54%) and the president’s recent push for policies he calls “middle-class economics” has done little to improve his standing on helping the middle class. In the new poll, 45% approve of his handling of that issue, up slightly from 40% in June 2014. That improvement is largely attributable to an increase in approval ratings among political independents, from 31% in June to 38% now, though 62% of them still disapprove of the president’s efforts to help the middle class.
Obama’s approval rating overall stands at 47%, with 51% disapproving, about the same as in a December CNN/ORC poll.
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CNN
That’s significantly better than George W. Bush’s approval ratings at this stage of his presidency. In January 2007, just 34% approved of the job Bush was doing. About 8-in-10 of each president’s own party approved of his handling of the job, but Bush fared much worse among political independents: 43% approve of Obama now, just 29% approved of Bush in January 2007.
Obama fares worse on handling health care policy than he does on the economy. In the new poll, 58% disapprove of his work on health care, while just 41% approve. The negative tilt comes just as his signature domestic policy legislation, the Affordable Care Act, faces a Supreme Court challenge which could eliminate subsidies that some low-income people have used to purchase health insurance.
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On another issue slated to come before the court this term, 63% of Americans say that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry and have their marriages recognized by the law as valid. That’s up from 49% in August 2010. Over that time, the share who see marriage as a constitutional right has climbed 15 points among Republicans to 42% and 19 points among Democrats to 75%.
The CNN/ORC International poll was conducted by telephone February 12-15, 2015, including interviews with 1,027 adult Americans. Results for all adults have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 points.
