Public Trusts Obama More on Health than Hill Leaders, but Confidence Erodes

Americans have more confidence in President Obama to recommend the right thing for health care reform than they do in Democratic or Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, but the percentages for all of the players on the issue are lower than they were last June, according to a Gallup poll conducted March 2-3.

Forty-nine percent express confidence in Obama, 37 percent in the Democratic leaders and 32 percent in the Republicans. Last June, those numbers were 58 percent, 42 percent and 34 percent respectively.

Among independents, 44 percent trust Obama the most, 30 percent choose the Democratic leaders and 27 percent the GOP leaders."As the debate over healthcare reform legislation enters what could be its final month, the American public's confidence in several of the political players who have been at the heart of the fray has eroded," Gallup said. "President Obama's confidence ratings have slipped to the point where about half of Americans have confidence in what he recommends, and half do not."

The professions or institutions in which Americans have the most trust to recommend the right course for reform are doctors (77 percent), hospitals (64 percent) and academics and researchers who study health care policy (61 percent).

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