Obama's Approval Rating Hits Two-Year High

Following what was perhaps the most remarkable week in Barack Obama’s presidency — one in which he secured an important victory in Congress on trade, was handed two historic Supreme Court wins (on health care and gay marriage), and delivered a moving eulogy at the funeral of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, leading mourners in singing “Amazing Grace” — his approval rating is at a two-year high.

According to a new CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday, 50 percent of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling his presidency — which is up 5 points over the most recent survey and his highest approval rating since May 2013.

The survey found that 47 percent disapprove of President Obama, which is down 5 points since May (when 52 percent disapproved of his handling of the presidency) and marks just the second time in two years his disapproval rating has fallen below 50 percent.

There are two reasons for the jump in Obama’s approval rating, the survey found: his handling of race relations and the economy.

On the economy, 52 percent approve of the job Obama is doing — up 6 points since May and the first time it has been above 50 percent in nearly six years in the CNN/ORC poll.

Meanwhile, 55 percent of Americans approve of the way the president is handling race relations, including his response to the church shooting in Charleston, S.C., where nine people, including Pinckney, were killed by a white gunman on June 17 in what police are treating as a hate crime. Just 42 percent disapprove of how he is handling race relations, the poll found.

Obama’s approval rating, however, is largely divided along racial lines. Among African-Americans, 91 percent approve of the way Obama is handling his presidency, compared with just 39 percent among whites.

“Obama’s approval rating among whites hasn’t been above 50 percent since 2009,” the CNN poll noted, “while his approval rating among African-Americans has rarely dipped below 80 percent.”

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