Wall Street Journal
By Reid Epstein
January 20, 2015
President
Barack Obama has broad popular support for his plans to restore
diplomatic relations with Cuba and grant legal status to four million
more undocumented immigrants,
according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll out Tuesday.
Mr.
Obama’s sunny numbers on Cuba and immigration come as his approval
rating in the WSJ/NBC poll, 46%, is at its highest point since October
2013, before the disastrous
rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges. Mr. Obama’s economic
approval rating, 49%, is above water for the first time since January
2013.
One
area where the administration appears to be at odds with the American
public: its reluctance to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which would
run from Canada to the
Gulf of Mexico.
On
Cuba, 60% of those polled said they approve of Mr. Obama’s announcement
to restore diplomatic relations with Havana. The high approval ratings
for Mr. Obama’s decision
span regional, age and racial demographics, but is strongest among the
president’s base.
The
Cuba approval numbers are highest among the young (66% of those 18 to
34 years old), African-American and Hispanic voters (65% each) and
people who live in the northeast
(68%) and the west (66%).
Even
groups not typically friendly to the president favor restoring ties
with Cuba. People at least 65 years old (53%), white voters (58%) and
those in the South (51%)
back the move. Even 41% of Republicans said they are on board.
Mr.
Obama has 52% support for his November executive action granting
temporary legal status to 4 million undocumented immigrants, but here
Americans are divided along
in more typical political ways.
Most
women polled favor the immigration action while men disapprove. Vast
majorities of blacks (82%) and Hispanics (73%) favor the decision while
most whites (52%) disapprove.
Two-thirds of people aged 18 to 34 approve of the immigration action,
while only 39% of those at least 65 years old do.
On
another contentious issue — the Keystone XL pipeline — 41% are in favor
of building the project, compared with just 20% against it. Mr. Obama
has said he would veto
lawmakers’ legislation to approve the project ahead of an expected
State Department decision.
Still, 37% said they don’t know enough about the proposal to have an opinion.
Support
for the project is strongest among Republicans (80%), especially people
who describe themselves as followers of the tea party (80%). While
environmentalists have
made sought to make opposition to building the pipeline a touchstone
issue, conservatives have been more successful convincing their
followers it is important. While 80% of tea party followers said they
support building Keystone, 43% of Democrats and 36% of
self-described liberals said they don’t have an opinion on it.
The poll of 800 adults was conducted from Jan. 14 to Jan. 17. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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