Pew: Obama Liked but Bar is High

President-elect Barack Obama received record ratings for the way he campaigned in a new Pew Research Center survey. But the poll also shows that he’ll also enter the White House with lofty expectations.

Three-quarters of those polled gave Obama an “A” or a “B” when asked to grade him as a presidential candidate. Bill Clinton, just after he won the 1992 election, received either of those from just 64 percent of respondents.

An overwhelming majority — 92 percent of respondents — believe that Obama will have a successful first term. Nearly four in ten respondents who voted for McCain feel that way. Just 26 percent of Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) supporters in 2004 thought that President Bush’s term would be successful.