Obama Enjoys 50% Approval Rating Heading Into State of the Union

For the first time since 2013, half of people think the president's doing a good job in the Washington Post/ABC News poll.

US president-elect Barack Obama gives a press conference in Chicago on December 19, 2008 to introduce his pick of California Rep. Hilda Solis as his labor secretary, former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as trade representative, Karen Mills as head of the Small Business Administration and Republican Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois for transportation secretary.
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

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By Ali Elkin

January 19, 2015 at 2:18 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Republicans may control both houses of Congress, but President Obama will head into Tuesday's State of the Union address knowing one thing: public opinion seems to be turning in his favor.

In a Washington Post-ABC News poll released today, he scored a 50 percent job approval rating, his highest for this poll since 2013 and a nine-point jump since December. It's also a seven-point boost from October, right before Republicans took the majority of the Senate for control of Congress.