Photograph by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Pedestrians walk in front of the Capitol building.

That’s the percentage of Americans who want to delay automatic spending cuts set to take effect beginning this week, according to a Bloomberg National Poll.

That majority said Congress should “delay steep cuts to give the economy a chance to continue recovering, which would help reduce the deficit,” according to the survey by Selzer & Co.

That compares to 40 percent who said it would be better for Congress to “act now to make steep cuts to reduce the deficit before it gets out of control.”

Without an agreement between President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress, the $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over nine years would start going into effect on March 1.

Bloomberg’s Julie Hirschfeld Davis has more here.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: 54 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

President Barack Obama speaks about gun violence as well as the economy in Chicago on Feb. 15, 2013.

That was President Barack Obama’s job approval rating in a Bloomberg National Poll conducted Feb. 15-18.

It is the president’s strongest level of support since September 2009, Bloomberg’s Mike Dorning reports.

Forty percent disapprove of the job Obama is doing as president, the poll found. On seven specific issues, Obama’s approval rating ranged from 35 percent on the federal budget deficit to 59 percent on terrorism. On the economy, public opinion is divided, with 47 percent approving and 49 percent disapproving of the president’s performance.

Obama and the Democratic Party he leads have a stronger public image than that of the Republican Party, which lost the presidential election in 2012 and also lost ground in the House and Senate.

Fifty-six percent of respondents said they have very favorable or mostly favorable feelings toward Obama, compared with 47 percent for the Democratic Party and 35 percent for the Republican Party.

By a margin of 43 percent to 34 percent, Americans blame Republicans in Congress more than Obama and Democrats in Congress for “what’s gone wrong in Washington,” Bloomberg’s Richard Rubin reports. Obama and Republicans haven’t reached an agreement to avert automatic spending cuts set to take effect March 1.

In other poll findings, about half of Americans think the housing market will improve over the next year, compared with 16 percent who think it will worsen, Bloomberg’s David J. Lynch reports.

The Bloomberg National Poll was conducted by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, Iowa, and is based on interviews with 1,003 Americans ages 18 or older.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: 55% by Political Capital.

Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

President Barack Obama arrives to speak in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Building next to the White House in Washington, on Feb. 19, 2013.

While President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans trade blame over who’s responsible for the budget stalemate gripping Washington, a new poll shows the president may have the upper hand in the eyes of most Americans.

A Bloomberg national poll released today puts his approval rating at 55 percent, the highest point in three years, while Republican popularity stands at the level since September 2009.

With sequestration set to begin taking effect March 1, House Democrats including Reps. Elijah Cummings and Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrats, hold a news conference on the impact for middle class families and small businesses with Marion Blakey, president of Aerospace Industries Association.

Officials with Aerospace giant Boeing Co. will present a redesign of the 787 Dreamliner’s battery to regulators that they believe will satisfy long-term safety concerns and allow the jet back into air within weeks, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of proposal.

Also today, USDA releases its first forecast of acres to be planted for 2013 and the outlook for farm trade, with remarks from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce holds an event on North American competitiveness and intellectual property. And Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai at the State Department.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Sequestration by Political Capital.

Photograph by Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

President Barack Obama greets an audience member after speaking to workers about the economy during a visit to the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Mich., on Dec. 10, 2012.

That’s the percentage of Americans who said President Barack Obama is “making a serious effort” to work with Republican leaders in Congress to reach a budget agreement, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Thirty-two percent said the same about Republican leaders, according to the survey conducted Dec. 5-9 of 1,503 adults.

The poll underscores Obama’s stronger negotiating position as he and Republicans try to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, a mix of more than $600 billion in tax hikes and spending reductions that are scheduled to take effect beginning next month unless Congress acts.

Obama, who was re-elected on Nov. 6 with about 51 percent of the vote, had an approval rating of 55 percent compared with 25 percent for Republican leaders in Congress, the poll found.

Most Americans agree with Obama that a budget agreement should raise tax rates on income exceeding $250,000, according to the Pew survey and a Bloomberg National Poll conducted Dec. 7-10.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: 55 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg

Business leaders from Dow Chemical Co., Chevron Corp. and IBM Corp. depart from the White House after meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on Nov. 14, 2012.

That’s the percentage of Americans who said President Barack Obama is genuinely interested in working with business leaders to reach a budget deal, according to a Bloomberg National Poll.

Forty-one percent said Obama instead is meeting with CEOs to “score political points,” according to the survey conducted Dec. 7-10 of 1,000 adults.

Obama and senior administration officials are urging business executives to press Congress for an agreement to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, the combination of more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending reductions that are scheduled to take effect beginning in January.

Obama is pushing for higher tax rates on family income over $250,000, and 65 percent of poll respondents said his re-election on Nov. 6 gave him a mandate to do so. Forty-five percent of Republicans agreed with that statement, the poll found.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: 54 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Sergio Dionisio/Bloomberg

Hillary Clinton, U.S. secretary of state, observes a moment of silence during a wreath-laying ceremony ahead of the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) in Perth, Australia.

Read my lips — Hillary Clinton’s response to the idea of running for president again.

“I’ve said I really don’t believe that that’s something I will do again,” she says in an interview with ABC’s Barbara Walters. “I am so grateful I had the experience of doing it before.”

When pressed, however, ABC reports, the soon-retiring secretary of state, Democrat candidate for president in 2008, former senator from New York and former first lady, “does admit” that if she did choose to run again in 2016 she would not be concerned about her age. Recently having turned 65, Clinton would be 77 years old at retirement if she were to win and hold office for two terms.

“I am, thankfully, knock on wood, not only healthy, but have incredible stamina and energy,” she says in the interview for the program, “Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2012,” airing tonight at 9:30 pm EST. “I just want to see what else is out there. I’ve been doing, you know, this, this incredibly important and, and satisfying work here in Washington, as I say, for 20 years, I want to get out and spend some time looking at what else I can do to contribute.”

If she chose to reconsider, a Bloomberg National Poll out today shows, she’d have a considerable advantage over the known potential competitors at this time.

As Mike Dorning reports, 59 percent of Americans and 81 percent of Democrats rate Clinton an “excellent” or “good” potential nominee for president in 2016.

She is among the most popular members of the Obama administration, with 70 percent of Americans holding a positive view of Clinton, compared with 55 percent voicing a favorable opinion of Obama and 48 percent  a positive view of Vice President Joe Biden.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, another potential Democratic nominee, is rated favorably as a nominee by 29 percent of the public and 40 percent of Democrats. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a former White House chief of staff for Obama, is rated favorably as a nominee by 19 percent of Americans and 32 percent of Democrats. The poll of all respondents has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Original post is Hillary Clinton: `Don’t Believe… That’s Something I Will Do Again’ by Political Capital.

Photograph by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

President Barack Obama speaks about the economy at the Daimler Detroit Diesel engine plant on Dec. 10, 2012 in Redford, Michigan.

President Barack Obama holds a re-election mandate for his plan to raise taxes on the rich, a Bloomberg National Poll shows, with the president’s job-approval at its highest since this season three years ago.

And while most Americans still worry that things are on the wrong track, the poll finds, optimism about the future also is at its highest in three years.

Bloomberg’s Mike Dorning reports today: Obama won the public argument over taxes so decisively that almost half of Republicans now say he has an election mandate to raise rates on the rich.

Majorities of about 2-to-1 also read the election results as an endorsement of Obama’s pledge to protect Social Security and Medicare benefits, according to a Bloomberg National Poll of 1,000 adults conducted Dec. 7-10.

The president’s job approval strengthened to 53 percent from 49 percent in September. The last time he enjoyed that level of public backing was December 2009, when his job approval was 54 percent.

The combined findings give Obama “an opportunity to negotiate from a position of strength,” said Ann Selzer, the founder of Selzer & Co., a Des Moines, Iowa-based firm that conducted the poll. “This is what the public is saying he was elected to do.”

Bloomberg’s David Lynch reports today: Americans’ economic mood is at its brightest in more than three years even as Washington echoes with warnings of a new recession if deficit negotiations fail, the Bloomberg National Poll shows.

While just 38 percent say the U.S. is on the right track, that’s five percentage points more than in the last poll in September and the best reading on that question since September 2009, when the U.S. was just emerging from recession. Fifty-five percent of respondents say the U.S. is on the wrong track.

The poll reflects the growing optimism that contributed to President Barack Obama’s re-election victory. Forty-eight percent of respondents say they approve of his handling of the economy as housing prices rise, household debt falls and employment grows, with 48 percent disapproving. That’s his best showing since September 2009.

Original post is Obama’s Mandate for Taxes: Poll by Political Capital.

Photograph by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Representative Paul Ryan during a town hall meeting outside the Clinton County Courthouse in Iowa on Oct. 2, 2012.

“We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.”

That’s the Romney campaign’s quick take on Vice President Joe Biden’s remark yesterday about the middle class being “buried” the last four years — the years that President Barack Obama and Biden have held office.

The Romney campaign has been trying to say it themselves.

The footage in this clip, which hasn’t been refined for TV broadcast yet, shows Romney and running mate Paul Ryan trying to make the point at rally after rally. They have tried to make the point in TV ads as well.

The trouble is, by a number of indicators, the nation actually is better off now than it was four years ago. And Obama has campaigned, with the help of former President Bill Clinton lately, on the idea that he inherited a catastrophic economic mess and has made steady, if not complete, progress in its reversal.

And voters may accept this: The Gallup Poll this week found that, by a margin of 53-43 percent, more voters say Obama would be better for Romney for middle-class Americans.

In the latest Bloomberg National Poll, asked which candidate would be the best in understanding their problems and struggles, 51 percent of those surveyed named Obama and 38 percent Romney.

So when Biden says it, Romney takes it to the bank.

And probably to debate tonight.

Romney has borne the burden of his own remarks about 47 percent of Americans falling victim to government dependency for the past few weeks. Romney is likely to hang Biden on Obama at their first debate, starting at 9 pm EDT tonight — or at least take Biden to the air.

Original post is Biden’s `Middle-Class’ Burial: Romney’s Awaited Opening by Political Capital.

Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Mitt Romney during a campaign rally at SeaGate Convention Centre on Sept. 26, 2012 in Toledo, Ohio.

Any good campaign needs to dust off its talking points from time to time.

In an interview aired over the weekend, Republican Mitt Romney was asked when he, known as “a turnaround artist” in business, is planning to put his campaign on a new tack. It doesn’t need any turnaround, Romney said in the interview aired Sunday night by CBS News’ “60 Minutes” – he was tied in the polls with the incumbent president, Barack Obama, he said.

And today, asked about what he’s doing about his campaign’s challenges in an interview aired on ABC News, Romney again said that “polls go up” and “polls go down.” And for now, he said, he is tied with Obama in the Gallup Poll.

The president and the Republican nominee were tied in Gallup’s daily tracking survey through Sept. 21 — the two sharing 47 percent of the surveyed voters’ support — but today the seven-day rolling average of that Gallup survey of registered voters showed Obama up six percentage points — Obama 50 percent, Romney 44 percent.

That’s basically the same advantage the latest Bloomberg National Poll shows for Obama.

In addition, that Gallup tracking has shown a widening spread since the seven-day average of polling following Romney’s reported remarks about 47 percent of Americans paying no taxes, and thus “victims” of government dependency and unreachable by his campaign, have had a chance to play out in the media. The Bloomberg poll, as well as a survey by ABC News and The Washington Post, recorded negative reactions to this remark.

`Frankly at this early stage, polls go up, polls go down,” Romney said in his interview today with ABC’s David Muir on the campaign trail in Toledo, Ohio.

Early stage?

Near the eve of four weeks of debates that will present the final picture of the president and his challenger before the election on Nov. 6?

“We have a chance during the debate to make our message clear to the American people,” the former Massachusetts governor told Muir, “and I’m absolutely convinced that when people see the two of us talk about our direction for America they’re going to support me because I know what it takes to make the economy going again, and the president has proven he does not.”

Recent surveys of the most important swing states – Ohio and Florida — also have shown Obama taking a growing lead over Romney.

“I’m tied in the national polls, both Gallup and Rasmussen have the numbers at even,” Romney told ABC News today. “State by state you’ve got some advertising going on from the Obama people , which expresses their views on my positions which frankly, I think are inaccurate, and in some cases, dishonest.”

In the interview, ABC notes, “Romney declined to respond directly to the voices of critics, some from within his own party, who have been urging him to shift his strategy after several trying weeks for his campaign.”

“There are critics and there are cheerleaders, we have people of all different persuasion,” Romney said, noting that “every day there are improvements and new messages that come out.”

For Romney, the most critical message may be addressing what he meant by that comment about the 47 percent, and he has started airing a minute-long TV ad which could become the showcase of his campaign in the coming week — insisting that he understands the travails of people who live “paycheck to paycheck.”

“Mine is a campaign about 100 percent of the people, not 99 and one, not any other percent,” Romney said in the interview with ABC. “It’s about getting 100 percent of the people in this country to have a brighter future, better job prospects and higher take home pay.”

Original post is Romney’s Talking Point: 6-pct Lag by Political Capital.

Mitt Romney attempts to accomplish two things in his new, minute-long, open-shirt collared TV ad in which he speaks directly to the camera: Connecting with voters living “paycheck to paycheck” and arguing that “we can’t afford another four years like the last four years.”"

“Too many Americans are struggling to find work in today’s economy,” Romney says in the ad. “Too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck, trying to make falling incomes meet rising prices for food and gas.”

The results of the latest Bloomberg National Poll today suggest that Romney has an uphill struggle in making that connection. Asked which candidate would be the best in understanding your problems and struggles, 51 percent of those surveyed named President Barack Obama and 38 percent Romney. The poll shows an overall negative attitude toward Romney as contributing to a six-percentage point advantage among likely voters for the president heading into the first presidential debate next week.

Romney also says this in the ad:

“More Americans are living in poverty than when President Obama took office and 15 million more are on food stamps. President Obama and I both care about poor and middle-class families. The difference is my policies will make things better for them. We shouldn’t measure compassion by how many people are on welfare. We should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job. My plan will create 12 million new jobs over the next four years-helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening the middle class. I’m Mitt Romney and I approve this message because we can’t afford another four years like the last four years.”

As Bloomberg’s David Lynch reports, Americans are better off as a nation, generally, than they were in 2008 — and Romney could be asking the wrong question about the last four years, the more poignant question being what’s happened in the past year.

“At this point in 2008, amid the worst financial panic since 1929, the U.S. economy was melting down, contracting 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of that year,” Lynch reported. “Today, by most measures, the economy is in far better shape. Of 70 indicators compiled by Bloomberg, 51 — including growth, hiring, housing starts and the stock market — have improved from January 2009 when President Barack Obama took office.

“The economy was going off a cliff,” says Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, who has been tracking the economy since 1983. “Since then, we’ve been digging our way out of the well.”

Original post is Romney’s `Paycheck-to-Paycheck’ — Uphill Struggle, Poll Shows by Political Capital.