AMERICAN VOTERS “CONFIDENT” OBAMA WILL BRING ABOUT “REAL CHANGE”

One week after his historic election as President of the United States, The Diageo/Hotline Poll of 800 registered voters conducted by FD from November 6-9, 2008, finds that 66% of voters say they are "confident" that Barack Obama will bring real change to Washington, D.C.

Top Priority for New President & New Congress

Overall, voters are fairly evenly split when it comes to the top domestic priorities they would like to see a new administration and a new Congress pursue. There is equal support for a plan to make America energy independent (24%), a plan to oversee and regulate financial markets (22%), and a plan for a middle class tax cut (21%).

The Poll finds that, among Democratic voters, priorities for the next administration and next Congress are somewhat different. Specifically, a tax cut tops the list of priorities (29%), followed by financial market regulation (22%) and a national health care plan (19%).

Leadership Style

The Poll finds that voters are extremely eager to see bipartisanship both in the approach and the make-up of the incoming administration.

By a large 25-point margin, voters would rather see Obama compromise and cooperate with the Republicans (58%) than see him pursue his agenda with few changes and potentially engage in conflict with Republicans (33%).

Likewise, 61% of voters say they want to see Obama's cabinet and close advisors reflect an equal composition of Democrats and Republicans. Only 24% said he should surround himself mostly with Democrats and only 6% said he should surround himself only with Democrats.

"President-elect Obama ends this campaign with very high approval ratings but also very high expectations that he'll be able to translate his campaign themes of bipartisanship and ‘change' into action," commented Amy Walter, Editor-in-Chief of The Hotline.

Images of Key Figures

The Poll finds that Barack Obama is now perceived favorably by 65% of voters, and John McCain is perceived favorably by 58% of voters.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is perceived favorably by 31% of voters and is perceived unfavorably by 40% of voters. Meanwhile, 26% of voters could not rate her either way.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is perceived favorably by 12% of voters, perceived unfavorably by 22% of voters and 62% of voters could not rate him either way.

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