Obama Approval Rating Hits New High as He Prepares to Leave Office

President Barack Obama's job approval rating hit 55 percent in a new poll released Thursday, making it the highest it has been in his second term in office and matching the best at any time in his first year at the White House.

The poll, conducted by CNN/ORC, makes for the seventh consecutive month that Obama's ratings have been greater than 50 percent. Since last month, the president's approval rating has increased by four percentage points — and 10 points higher than a year ago at this time.

Although the improvement in his numbers over last year is found across age groups, gender lines and geographic regions, there are partisan differences. Obama is up 12 points among Democrats to 89 percent approval, and 14 among independents to 56 percent approval, but his approval among Republicans has barely moved from 11 percent to 13 percent.

Among whites, his approval rating remains below the 50 percent mark, but has climbed from 32 percent a year ago to 47 percent now. Non-whites have remained at a steady 70 percent, compared to 68 percent a year ago.

Obama hit his stride shortly after delivering a speech at the Democratic convention that was designed to remind Americans, but especially Democrats, of the successes of his presidency while making the case to vote for Hillary Clinton.

"A lot’s happened over the years. And while this nation has been tested by war and recession and all manner of challenge — I stand before you again tonight, after almost two terms as your president, to tell you I am even more optimistic about the future of America," said Obama.

"I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America," he declared.

He added: "America is already great. America is already strong. And I promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump," he said, questioning Trump's qualifications.

The CNN/ORC Poll was conducted by telephone Sept. 28 through Oct. 2 among a random national sample of 1,501 adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons