59% Will at Least 'Consider' Reelecting Obama

More than half of voters approve of President Obama’s job performance and would at least consider reelecting him—even though 57% of them disapprove of they way he is handling the economy, a Politico-George Washington University poll finds. Some 52% approve of the president’s work so far, and 72% approve of him personally; both figures mark 7-point jumps over an October poll. Meanwhile, 59% say they’ll “definitely” vote for him in 2012 or will “consider” it; only 38% said they “definitely will not.”

But voters definitely have the economy on the brain: Some 48% cited “the economy and jobs” or “government spending and the budget deficit” as the central issue of the day. Though analysts have linked Obama’s improved poll numbers to the killing of Osama bin Laden, some 84% of voters say it makes “no difference” in their voting plans. Some 12% say they’re now more likely to vote for him, while 3% say they’re less likely to do so.