Bipartisan group lauds president, poll shows

President Barack Obama might struggle with bipartisanship in Congress, but his speech Tuesday sat well with one Nevada group that included Republicans and Democrats, according to one poll.

Obama scored well on a wide range of issues with GOP as well as Democratic voters and did especially well when addressing fiscal issues, such as taxes, the deficit and overall responsibility.

The data came from real-time feedback from a group of Nevadans split evenly between Obama voters and those who supported his Republican rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, in the presidential election. According to the Congressional Quarterly Web site, 50 swing voters from Las Vegas participated.

"There wasn't polarization. I've never seen anything like it," said Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg, who gathered the information through dials used by participants to indicate approval or disapproval of what Obama was saying.

"All the lines kind of moved up together."

On taxes, Obama's favorable rating moved to 64 percent, up from 38 percent before the speech. On handling the deficit, he improved 18 points to 60 percent. His job approval rating -- already high before the speech at 68 percent -- settled at 82 percent afterward.

Greenberg cautioned that the swings in this kind of survey are usually more dramatic than the ones documented in broader follow-up polls. The group also started out more conservative than America as a whole, he noted, because it contained even numbers of Obama and McCain voters.

"On the fiscal issues, he did very good work, very strong work for himself," Greenberg said. "He clearly staked out an area where he was able to bring people with him. Republicans were virtually as strong as Democrats."

That support showed up not quite as strongly on other issues, such as changes to Iraq policy, a push for energy investment and an observation that China, Germany and Korea are ahead in energy efficiency and renewable energy production. The president's call for accountability, including sharp criticism of the bank bailout and a call for new, more effective financial regulation, was very popular.

"The president was very successful in introducing the notion of responsibility," Greenberg said. "One of the strongest responses that we got on the dials is that the 'day of reckoning' has come and the country has to address these problems."

Respondents also didn't feel that Obama was speaking only to his supporters or only to Democrats. For instance, at the end of the speech the president said, "I also know that every American who is sitting here tonight loves this country and wants it to succeed."

"He was not sending out signals," Greenberg said.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., both issued statements saying they were encouraged by Obama's message and bipartisan efforts.

"I agree with President Obama that our nation will recover from our economic troubles," Ensign said. "Americans are resilient, and I know we'll emerge stronger and more competitive."

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.