Hooah! Michelle Obama visits Marines
Americans have a message for President Obama on handling the oil spill: Get tougher.
In a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, taken Friday through Sunday, 71% of those surveyed say that Obama hasn't been tough enough in dealing with BP on the oil spill. Just one in five say his actions have been "about right," and a negligible 3% say he's been too tough.
His ratings on handling the spill have gotten a bit worse, compared with a USA TODAY poll in late May. Now 24% of Americans rate the job the president is doing on the spill as "very poor" -- that's a 5 percentage-point jump from three weeks ago -- and another 29% rate it as "poor."
Nearly half of those surveyed say BP is doing a "very poor" job, a jump of 10 percentage points since May.
Obama is making his fourth trip to the affected region today, with stops in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. He'll have a chance to make his case to the nation tomorrow with an Oval Office address at 8 PM.
USA TODAY's Susan Page has more on the new poll:
Who gets the blame for the oil spill?
Three of four say BP deserves "great deal" of blame for the spill, but 44% also say that the federal agencies that regulate oil should shoulder a lot of the responsibility.
Americans see the spill as an environmental and economic catastrophe. Half predict that some beaches will never recover from the oil spill. Six in 10 say some species of wildlife, including fish and birds, will never return to normal levels even after the clean-up is completed.
The survey of 1,014 adults, taken by landline and cell phone, has a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points. From more results, see Tuesday's USA TODAY.
(Posted by Catalina Camia)
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David's journalism career spans three decades, including coverage of five presidential elections, the Oklahoma City bombing, the 2000 Florida presidential recount and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the White House for USA TODAY since 2005. His interests include history, politics, books, movies and college football -- not necessarily in that order. More about David
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