Americans more positive; Bush, Congress gain

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Americans enter 2008 in a more positive mood, with slightly greater hope for the future and a more charitable view of President George W. Bush and Congress, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

The Reuters/Zogby Index, which measures the mood of the country, rose in December for the first time since the polling began in July, climbing from 94.9 to 97.3.

Bush continued a slow climb back from record low approval ratings, with the number of Americans who give him positive marks for his performance rising from 28 percent last month to 31 percent.

Even the U.S. Congress, stuck for two consecutive months at a record low approval of 11 percent, rose slightly to a still miserable 13 percent.

But the public has plenty of worries, mostly on the economic front. The poll found 43 percent of Americans expect a recession in the next year, up from 40 percent last month, and only 21.7 percent rated the performance of U.S. economic policy as excellent or good.

"It looks like the bleeding has stopped and people are starting to feel a little better, but there are still growing worries about a recession," pollster John Zogby said.

"The main difference is the slightly better numbers for the president and Congress. There just wasn't much room to go down, they have bottomed out," he said.

The poll follows a month when the Republican president and Democratic-led Congress tried to make headway on proposals to ease a housing crisis amid a fluctuating stock market and growing predictions of recession.

IRAQ

A drop in U.S. troop deaths in Iraq knocked the issue off the front pages of newspapers, although the poll found three-quarters of Americans still give negative marks to U.S. policy in Iraq.

Seven of the 10 measures of public opinion used in the index saw at least small increases in the last month, with the other three dropping.

The number of Americans who believe the country is on the right track rose nearly two points to 25 percent in the last month, although about two-thirds still believe it is headed in the wrong direction.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans who felt "very" safe from foreign threats jumped 10 points to 35 percent, and the number who felt "very" secure in their job rose three points to 48 percent.

A big and growing majority of Americans believe their children will have a better life, with the number rising from 61 percent to 67 percent.

But the ratings for U.S. economic policy were worse, with the number calling it poor jumping from 32 percent to 41 percent. The percentage of Americans giving U.S. foreign policy negative marks rose two points to 79.