Gallup: Economy still top of mind for Americans

Even President Barack Obama concedes it’s unlike that his heavily promoted economic speeches this week will break through Washington gridlock. We gauge public attitude on the subject with Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll.

In his 19th fiscal quarter in office, how is the president’s job approval rating compared with other two-term presidents at this point in their tenure: Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Nixon, Eisenhower?

Clearly, the president has much higher job approval ratings than Congress (15 percent), but how does the third branch of government, the Supreme Court, stack up?

We’ve talked about issues that divide us along eracial lines, but one thing is the same across all ethnic groups — satisfaction with personal life, which is high and constant across racial groups.

Finally, Newport notes that the percent of Americans who approve of marriages between blacks and whites has seen an increase from 4 percent approval in 1958 to an 87 percent approval today — one of the biggest shifts in attitudes in Gallup history.

Listen to the conversation for all the numbers.