They Like Him, They Really Like Him

I admit I'm still surprised by Obama's popularity. Maybe things have changed more than I thought.

More than eight in 10, or 82 percent, of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Wednesday approve of the way Obama is handling his presidential transition.That approval is up 3 percentage points from when CNN asked the same question at the beginning of December.

Fifteen percent of those surveyed disapprove of the way the president-elect is handling his transition, down 3 points from the last poll.Obama's approval is higher than George W. Bush eight years ago.

Bush had a 65 percent approval rating during his transition, and Bill Clinton was at 67 percent in 1992."Barack Obama is having a better honeymoon with the American public than any incoming president in the past three decades. He's putting up better numbers, usually by double digits, than Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan or either George Bush on every item traditionally measured in transition polls," said Keating Holland, CNN's polling director.