Forty-two percent (42%) of U.S. voters say President Barack Obama is governing on a bipartisan basis while 39% say he is governing as a partisan Democrat.

But the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that most voters believe congressmen from both major political parties are acting in a far more partisan manner than the president.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) say congressional Democrats are governing in a partisan fashion, and 52% say the same about Republicans in Congress. Just 22% say members of both parties are acting on a bipartisan basis.

Overall, 40% expect politics in Washington to become more partisan over the next year while 40% expect it to become more cooperative. That’s little changed from the night after Obama won the White House in November. By early January, the number expecting more cooperation had increased to 48%.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of Republicans now expect politics to become more partisan while the same number of Democrats (63%) expect more co-operation. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 43% expect more partisanship and 30% are anticipating co-operation.
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index continues to show that Obama is earning high marks from the American people.

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Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters give Obama good or excellent marks as a leader while just 16% say he’s a poor leader.

Most (60%) say the President’s leadership style is about right. Just 13% of voters believe he is too confrontational and 17% say he is too cooperative.

Obama has gone out of his way to court Republicans and conservatives since winning the White House. He initially proposed $350 billion in tax cuts as part of the economic recovery plan, but congressional Democrats reduced that figure to $275 billion to provide for more spending. Republicans complained that much of the new spending will not directly benefit the troubled economy and is instead going to longstanding Democratic priorities. The $819-billion recovery plan that passed the House last week didn’t pick up a single Republican vote. Eleven Democratic congressmen voted against it, too.

Republicans are now becoming more vocal in their criticism and calling for more tax cuts as the plan is working its way through the Senate. Obama was expected to go to the Hill today to lobby senators for passage of the plan whose price tag has now climbed to $888 billion.
Voters for months have consistently favored tax cuts as the number one element in any economic plan. Just last week, 53% said tax cuts are more important than new government spending, and only 24% disagreed.
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