Obama's Polling Numbers...

  are still looking pretty impressive despite all of the crap going on in America.

  CNN on Tuesday.

   Seventy-nine percent approve of Obama's performance so far during transition, with 18 percent disapproving.

Obama's approval rating is 14 points higher than the approval rating for President-elect George Bush in 2001 and 17 points higher than President-elect Clinton's rating in 1992...

And 78 percent of those questioned said they believe Obama will be a uniter -- 20 points higher than those who felt the same way about then President-elect Bush in 2000. Twenty percent say Obama will be a divider, 16 points lower than those who said the same about Bush.

  Great numbers from CNN. Now, let us go to the LATimes poll which came out today.

   Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed feel positive about Obama's election as president, a figure that includes not just an overwhelming majority of his fellow Democrats but a substantial majority of independents and nearly a third of Republicans.

Overall, nearly 8 in 10 approve of the way Obama has handled his transition to the White House and nearly three-quarters approve of his Cabinet picks. Strong majorities endorsed two of Obama's most prominent choices: Democratic New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of State and Republican Robert M. Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration, as secretary of Defense.

Overall, 4 in 10 said they expected Obama's policies to make them personally better off, 15% said worse off, and the rest said they expected their circumstances to stay about the same, or were uncertain.

  Last but not least, the latest poll from WSJ/NBC

The poll found that 73% of adults approve of the way he is handling the transition and his preparations for becoming president.

So far, Americans are buoyed. Mr. Obama is viewed favorably by more Americans than ever, and three of four say they can relate to him as their president.

Similarly, three of four say he has struck the right balance over how involved he should be in making policy before taking office. Two-thirds say they are generally pleased with the people he has appointed.

Much of the warmth toward Mr. Obama stems from frustration with the status quo, the poll suggests. Nearly half of those surveyed said 2008 will go down as one of the worst years in U.S. history -- 20 percentage points higher than the poll has found in past years. And 90% of Americans say the economy has gotten worse in the past 12 months.

Only one in five Americans approves of the job the federal government is doing in handling the financial crisis, with 71% disapproving.

With that backdrop, people are rooting for Mr. Obama, said Mr. McInturff, the Republican pollster. He compared it with the goodwill that surrounded Mr. Bush after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

  Mr. Obama has set himself some high standards and so have we. We need to help this administration meet those standards and the issues that we all are facing if we are to not only survive ourselves, but also as a country.

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