Public Has Mixed Views on Obama As Year Draws to a Close

The year is ending on a downbeat note when it comes to how Americans view President Obama and his policies, as well as the state of the economy,according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted Dec. 9-13. There's gloom on the economy, opposition to the health care package in Congress and persistent doubts about the situation in Afghanistan.

Ninety-one percent rate the economy only fair or poor.

While Obama's job approval rating is just a little lower than it was last month, now standing at 49 percent to 40 percent with 11 percent undecided, the percentage of Americans who express a great deal or fair amount of confidence in him to do the right thing has fallen from 59 percent in October to 52 percent in the latest poll.

Back in February, 63 percent believed Obama had a "new approach" to politics, but that number is now down to 53 percent. Fifty-seven percent say he has kept only a few or none of his campaign promises compared to 28 percent who say he has kept most and 8 percent who believe he has kept them all.

Pew, like a Washington Post/ABC News poll released earlier today, found that the negative numbers on Obama's handling of Afghanistan had turned around since he laid out his new policy. Fifty percent now express a great or fair amount of confidence in Obama on the issue compared to 41 percent who do not, while last month 55 percent were not confident of his handling of the situation compared to 38 percent who were.

Fifty-one percent supported his decision to send more troops to Afghanistan compared to 39 percent who didn't, with 10 percent undecided. Independents and Republicans favored the decision while Democrats were split.

However, Pew found one dark cloud: 51 percent said Obama does not have a clear plan for success in Afghanistan compared to 36 percent who think he does, with 13 percent undecided.

On health care, 47 percent oppose the proposals they know about compared to 34 percent who support them, not much different from last month's results. Of those who oppose health care reform, a third say they feel that way because it will mean too much government involvement, 17 percent say it is too expensive, 13 percent say their own health care may suffer, 11 percent believe it might mean cuts in Medicare, 10 percent worry it will cover illegal immigrants and 8 percent fear it might lead to government money being using for abortions.