Americans split over Obama's leadership

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. voters, worried about the country's recovery and direction, are split about President Obama and his leadership, a Washington Post-ABC News poll indicates.

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll indicates 9 percent of Americans see a strong economic recovery, while 36 percent said it was week.

Concerning their personal financial situation, 30 percent said they were worse off since Obama took office, 15 percent said they were better off and 54 percent said their economic situation was about the same .

Sixty-eight percent of respondents said America was on the "wrong track," while 30 percent said it was on the right trajectory.

Americans also were nearly evenly split on Obama's job ratings, with 48 percent saying they approved of the job he was doing as president and 48 percent expressing disapproval. Similarly close splits were recorded on questions of whether Obama is a strong leader, empathetic or in sync with the country.

Obama received negative ratings for his management of the economy in general, the Post-ABC News poll said. He received more positive reviews on international matters.

In a hypothetical contest against Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, 47 percent of respondents said they would support the former Massachusetts governor, and 46 percent said they would back Obama.

Results are based on a nationwide telephone survey of 1,000 adults conducted Thursday through Sunday. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.