Poll: Public wants change in Obama’s leadership style

A vast majority of Americans says President Obama needs to change the way he is leading the country, according to a new poll.

{mosads}The NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey released Monday found 47 percent of Democrats say the president needs to substantially alter how he approaches his job.

Two-thirds of registered voters surveyed say they think Obama should undertake either “a great deal of change” or “quite a bit of change” to his leadership style. Nearly a quarter more respondents called for “just some change,” with just 8 percent saying “not that much change” was necessary.

Those numbers compare unfavorably to the weeks before the 2010 midterm elections, when Democrats lost control of the House. While the percentage calling for “quite a bit of change” and “just some change” have remained constant, those advocating for a “great deal of change” has risen 4 percentage points.

A quarter of those surveyed who say they want Republicans to control Congress say their vote is an explicit protest to the president’s job performance — an increase of 10 percentage points from the 2010 midterms.

Moreover, voters appear to reject the president’s plan for handling the crisis that has dominated headlines headed into the elections: Ebola. More than 7 in 10 Americans say doctors should be quarantined for three weeks after returning from treating patients in the Ebola hot zone. The president has argued that doing so could discourage public health officials from traveling to the affected area, which could prolong the outbreak.

Still, there are a few signs of encouragement for Democrats. Voters favored Republican control by a 49 percent-43 percent margin in 2010. This year, their advantage is just 46 percent-45 percent.

And while voters believe the president needs to shake things up, his approval rating has actually improved in recent weeks. Some 42 percent of voters now approve of the president, up 2 percentage points from August and September.