Opinion: Obama approval rating bumps by 9 percent after Bin Laden’s death
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How valuable is killing Osama bin Laden to an American president’s approval rating? According to a recent poll, only about 9%.
A Pew/Washington Post poll conducted Monday in the wake of the death of the world’s most sought-after terrorist found that 56% of those asked say they approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president while 38% disapprove. In April only 47% approved while 45% disapproved.
Obama isn’t the only president to benefit in the polls due to the fall of a vilified leader. In 2003 when the U.S. captured Iraqi President Saddam Hussein hiding at the bottom of an 8-foot hole, President George W. Bush’s approval ratings rose from 50% to 57%.
Among other questions, the poll asked 654 adults who deserved the credit for the killing of Bin Laden. Only a third of the total group said Obama deserved ‘a great deal of credit’.
Meanwhile 31% of those polled who identify themselves as Republicans said Bush deserved ‘a great deal of credit’ for the demise of Bin Laden.
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-- Tony Pierce
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Photo: President Barack Obama smiles as he is seated with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the start of a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 3, 2011. Credit: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak