By JONATHAN WEISMAN And DANNY YADRON
President Barack Obama has public opinion and the Democratic grass roots with him as he searches for common ground with Republicans in the wake of his party's historic defeats in last month's midterm elections, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.
A new WSJ/NBC poll indicates President Barack Obama is still popular with the public, but less than half of those polled would re-elect him in 2012. WSJ reporter Jonathan Weisman says Democrats polled give Obama high marks for seeking compromise.
Overall, the survey indicates that, for all the criticism the president is taking in Washington from Democratic leaders and liberal activists, he is shifting in a direction supported by many Democrats outside Washington and by the public in general.
In all, 63% of Democrats polled said they wanted to see Democratic leaders in Washington make compromises to gain consensus on legislation, about the same percentage of independents who expressed that view. Just 29% of Democrats said they would rather see their elected leaders stick to their positions, even if that meant not reaching any consensus.