Obama hasn't been this popular since 2009
President Obama might be leaving office just as popular as he was when he came in. A recent Washington Post/ABC News survey revealed that Obama's approval rating has hit an impressive 58 percent — the highest it's been in the poll since July 2009, six months after he took office.
Moreover, Obama's latest numbers are just a continuation of his approval rating's steady climb. Back in December, Obama's approval rating was 13 points lower than it is now, at 45 percent. Ahead of the 2014 midterm elections, when Democrats suffered enormous losses, Obama's approval rating was just 43 percent.
With the president drastically more popular than he was in 2014, this year's election could shake out very differently for the Democratic Party. And that, the Post noted, is very good news for its presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton.
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The poll, conducted from Sept. 5-8 among 1,002 adults, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
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