Blacks happier with U.S. under Obama

PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Blacks' satisfaction with the direction of the United States has grown since Barack Obama became president, Gallup poll results released Tuesday indicate.

Satisfaction about the country's direction also rose among white respondents, but at a smaller percentage, the results showed.

Forty-seven percent of blacks said they were satisfied with the way things are going in the country, compared with 10 percent in mid-2008 in the waning months of George W. Bush's presidency, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

Satisfaction was low among Republicans during Bush's second term as well, although it was higher than among Democrats or independents. With Obama as president, Republican satisfaction is at 10 percent, Gallup said.

The latest results includes an oversample of blacks to prove a reliable basis for estimating the views of this segment.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 1,521 national adults Oct. 16-19, including an oversample of 408 blacks. The margin of error for the overall sample is 3 percentage points.