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Poll finds great expectations for Obama

by Blue Crush | November 16, 2008 at 09:35 am

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Washington (CNN) - A new national poll suggests that 75% of Americans think Barack Obama will make major accomplishments as president of the United States.

The public thinks it's likely that Obama will improve race relations, improve economic conditions, bring stability to the financial markets, make the U.S. safer from terrorism, reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil, reduce global warming, win the war in Afghanistan and remove U.S. troops from Iraq without causing a major upheaval in that country. Watch how Obama is deliberately picking his team »

"The bar is being set awfully high for an Obama presidency," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "That's a pretty big to-do list."

Seventy-six percent say conditions in the country will improve four years from now, with the remaining 24 percent saying that's not likely.

Three-quarters of those polled also have a favorable view of Obama, up 12 points since the election. That number jumps to 99 percent when asked only of black Americans, and it drops to 41 percent when asked only of Republicans.

The overall 75 percent favorable rating "makes Obama the most popular president-elect in at least a quarter of a century," said Holland.