WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - The killing of Osama bin Laden sharply boosted President Barack Obama's image, improving Americans' views of his leadership and his efforts to fight terrorism, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday found.
About four in 10 Americans say their views of Obama improved after he ordered Sunday’s successful military operation in Pakistan to kill bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington.
The boost to Obama’s popularity from bin Laden’s death could be short-lived as voters focus again on the economy and lingering unemployment — top concerns heading into 2012 election campaign.
"There is no evidence the boost in his approval rating will last until the election, but an event like this could position Obama as more of a military leader and give him more authority," Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said.
That could help put a long-term dent in Republican efforts to paint Obama as weak on national security and indecisive in in reaction to the "Arab Spring" protests in the Middle East and North Africa.
Obama’s approval rating has slumped into the mid-40s in recent weeks as voters have grown increasingly pessimistic about the future and upset at rising gasoline prices.
Obama’s task during the campaign will be to convince Americans he is turning the corner on leading an economic recovery, and to re-engage the young and first-time voters who helped propel him to victory in 2008.
In the poll, 39 percent of Americans said their image of Obama’s leadership had improved, while 52 percent said it had not changed and 10 percent said it had worsened.
Forty-two percent said they had a higher opinion of Obama’s handling of anti-terrorism efforts, with 50 percent saying it was unchanged and 7 percent that it had worsened.
Thirty-two percent of Americans think Obama deserves the most credit for the U.S. special forces’ assault on Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, while 13 percent gave credit to former President George W. Bush
A third of Americans say they are more in favor of holding suspected terrorists without trial at Guantanamo military prison in Cuba since the Bin Laden killing.
The poll was conducted on Monday with a 1,010 adults in the United States interviewed online.
