Voters give Obama, Durbin good marks
Sunday, October 16, 2005
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
By Jeff Zeleny.
More than half of Illinois voters say they approve of the job Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is doing in office, while 7 in 10 give marks of approval to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) during his first year in Washington, according to a Tribune/WGN-TV poll.
Fifty-two percent of voters approve of Durbin, while 22 percent disapprove. Twenty-six percent offered no opinion of his performance in the Senate, where he serves as the assistant Democratic leader. His approval rating is virtually unchanged since a similar poll was taken in May.
Nine months into his term, Obama won approval from 72 percent of Illinois voters in the survey. Ten percent said they disapprove of his performance and 18 percent said they had no opinion. Republicans give him a 57 percent approval rating.
In May, 59 percent of Illinois voters said they approved, 9 percent disapproved and 32 percent had no opinion. Forty-two percent of Republicans then said they approved of Obama's performance in office.