Bin Laden's death boosts Obama's popularity

The announcement of Osama Bin Laden’s death has boosted United States president, Barack Obama, popularity according to the to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. Obama’s approval rose 11%. According to the survey, 57 percent said they approved of the president’s job performance.

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 biggest task during the campaign is likely to be to convince Americans he is turning the corner toward 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.

The US military and intelligence communities saw even bigger jumps in their public standing, with nearly two-thirds of Americans saying their views of the two had improved.

Thirty-two percent of Americans think Obama deserves the most credit for the US 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 said they were more in favor of holding suspected terrorists without trial at Guantanamo military prison in Cuba since the bin Laden killing.

About two-thirds of Americans, 68 percent, said they feel about as safe as they did before bin Laden's death, with 18 percent saying they felt safer and 14 percent saying they feel less safe.

The poll was conducted with 1,010 adults in the United States interviewed online.