Washington: President Barack Obama's approval rating got a small lift after he unveiled a jobs plan last week, keeping him ahead of all potential Republican rivals in the 2012 election, a poll said on Wednesday.
The percentage of Americans who view Obama's performance favorably edged up to 47 per cent in the poll conducted from September 8-12. The president, a Democrat, unveiled his $447 billion job creation proposal on September 8.
Obama's approval rating was 45 per cent in August and has hovered between 43 and 51 per cent for more than a year.
"It's the economy," said Ipsos poll analyst Clifford Young, who said he expects Obama's ratings to stay around the mid-40's over the next several months, a level that probably would not threaten him as he seeks re-election.
"If he gets near 40 or below 40, he loses his advantage as an incumbent."
Most Americans - 68 per cent - feel the country is on the wrong track, compared with just 25 per cent who feel the country is headed in the right direction, the poll found. That was down slightly from the 73 per cent who thought the economy was headed the wrong way in August.
Despite pessimism among voters about the economy, the top issue in the campaign, Americans rank Obama above all of the candidates vying to be the Republican nominee to run for president in November 2012.
The survey gave Obama the smallest advantage over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, now running second to Texas Governor Rick Perry in national polls.
If the election were held today and Romney were his opponent, Obama would be the choice of 49 per cent of registered voters surveyed, versus 43 per cent for Romney. Among all voters surveyed, Obama's advantage over Romney was larger, at 51 per cent to 39 per cent.
"We should definitely expect the Republican candidates to improve over time. As they become better known, they are going to move up in the polls," Young said.
Obama has an eight percentage point advantage over Perry, at 50 per cent to 42 per cent among registered voters. Among all adults, the result was the same as for Romney, 51 per cent backing Obama and 39 per cent behind Perry.
Obama holds a strong lead over Representative Michele Bachmann, with a 54 per cent to 36 per cent advantage among registered voters.
Obama's approval among independents, who could be decisive in next year's elections, dropped to 42 per cent from 47 per cent in August.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,134 adults, including 932 registered voters, had a margin of error of 3 percentage points for all respondents and 3.1 points for registered voters.
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