Year Ends Happily for Obama

National pollster John Zogby gives President Obama a grade of B+ for week 154 of his presidency.

ePollster John Zogby updates our weekly Obama Report Card with a grade on the president's performance. Zogby uses his polling, expert analysis and interaction with major players to come up with a grade and some comments that capture how he sees the president's week ending.

John Zogby on Week: 154

"With Republicans in full retreat on extending the payroll tax cut and his approval rating in some polls on the positive side for the first time in months, President Obama enters the New Year in much better shape than might have been predicted just a few months ago. The immediate spotlight will now shine on the Republican primary candidates and their exhortations to the party's hard conservative base voters, and that too should be a good thing for Obama. So the president has enjoyed a family vacation in Hawaii and even got a cute impromptu photo-op with a serviceman's baby. The New Year is full of challenges at home and abroad (debt crisis in Europe, uncertainty in North Korea), but for now it's a Happy New Year in the White House."

Grade: B+

Last week's: B

John Zogby is Chairman of the Board and Chief Insights Officer for IBOPE Zogby International, a non-partisan public opinion, research, and business solutions firm with experience working in more than 70 countries around the globe. IBOPE Zogby International specializes in telephone, Internet, and face-to-face survey research and analysis for corporate, political, nonprofit, and governmental clients. The firm is headquartered in Utica, N.Y. John Zogby is also the author of The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream (Random House).

Twitter John @TheJohnZogby

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