Death of Osama bin Laden Helps President Obama Regain Popularity

Nuremberg, May 12, 2011 – The image of President Barack Obama has rebounded significantly with news of the U.S. killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. According to latest AP-GfK poll, 60% of Americans now approve the way Obama is handling his job as president, up from only 53% in March.

This is the highest rating since May 2009, shortly after his inauguration. Moreover, an overwhelming majority of Americans state that the killing of bin Laden was justified (87%). Still, not even one in five believes it has decreased the thread of terrorism against the United States.

Obtaining satisfaction is sometimes perhaps more important than bringing more security. While 87% of Americans say that it was justified to kill terrorist leader bin Laden and the same number approved the way the U.S. military and CIA handled the raid, half of them also believe that this will increase the thread of terrorism against their country - especially women and people aged 18 to 29.

When it comes to the desire for verification of bin Laden’s death, as well as information about the raid itself, younger Americans seem to ask for more. While across all ages a third of Americans believe the U.S gov-ernment has not provided enough information about the events, half of those ages 18 to 29 want more, particularly in the form of a picture or a video.
Terrorism is still personally an "extremely important” issue for three in four Americans. According to the latest AP-GfK poll, about ten percent of Americans frequently worry that they themselves will become a victim of terrorism, and another one in four thinks so occasionally. The fight against terrorism is therefore high on the agenda, and seems to justify various means to combat it, including the use of torture against suspected terrorists to obtain information. Almost 60% of all Americans believe that torture is often or at least sometimes justified for this purpose. The number slightly decreases amongst people older than 65 years.

The Survey

These findings are taken from the latest AP-GfK Poll, which was conducted by landline and cellular telephones among a nationally representative sample of 1,001 Americans ages 18 and over. All interviews were conducted between May 5-9, 2011 by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate
Communications.