Poll: 60 percent of Americans like Obama

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- As President Obama begins his second term, his favorability ratings are the highest since his first year in office, a Washington Post-ABC News poll has found.

The poll, released Wednesday, found some 60 percent of Americans like the president.

That's up dramatically from the 2012 campaign season, when his ratings held fairly static in the mid-to-low 50s.

The president was "strongly" liked by 39 percent of those polled, compared to 26 percent who strongly disliked him, the poll said.

While 24 percent said they had no opinion about the president's second inaugural speech, his general likeability grew among a number of groups, including liberals, racial minorities and people under 40. Obama was seen positively among at least two-thirds of those in each group.

However, partisan views of Obama have changed little. Some 80 percent of Republicans still don't like him. Among Democrats, 92 percent favored the president, up 5 percent from last year.

The poll was conducted Jan. 23 to 27 with a random national sample of 1,022 adults. The margin of error was 3.5 percent.