Poll: 53 percent approve of Obama State of the Union speech

{mosads}The CNN/ORC poll released after Obama’s address on Tuesday found that 53 percent of viewers said they had a “very positive” reaction. The poll also found that 24 percent of viewers said they had a “somewhat positive” response to Obama’s speech and 22 percent said they had a negative response to the speech.

The poll also found that 71 percent of viewers said the policies Obama touched on will direct the country in the right direction. Meanwhile, 26 percent of viewers said Obama’s policies will take the country in the wrong direction.

Additionally, 58 percent of those surveyed said Obama’s fifth State of the Union was better than his second inaugural address in January.

In his speech Tuesday, Obama called for Congress to hold votes on measures to prohibit sales of assault weapons and high-capacity clips and institute universal background checks. About 7 in 10 viewers said that Obama’s gun proposals in his speech would move the country in the right direction.

The president’s address also touched on immigration reform, urging Congress to pass a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws and to establish a path to citizenship for those already in the country illegally.

Roughly three-fourths of those surveyed in the CNN/ORC poll said that Obama’s proposals on immigration in his speech would move the country in the right direction.

On the economy, Obama proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $9 from $7.25 and also urged Congress to avoid the $85 billion sequester. Obama argued that the cuts from the sequester would deliver a severe blow to the economy and disrupt crucial government services. About two-thirds of those surveyed said Obama’s proposals on the economy would help create jobs.

The poll was conducted among 393 adults with a 5-point margin of error. The sample was made up of 44 percent Democrats and 17 percent Republicans.