text: In the immediate aftermath of the targeted killing of Osama bin Laden, President Obama’s approval rating has jumped higher, with big increases in the number of Americans giving him high marks on dealing with terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan. 
   
   But the new poll, conducted Monday evening by The Washington Post and the Pew Research Center, also finds virtually no movement in Obama’s numbers when it comes to handling the economy. That suggests that success on one front — even one as important as the death of the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — might not translate easily to other areas. 
   
   Overall, 56 percent of those polled say they approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president, an increase of nine percentage points over April polls by Post-ABC News and Pew. That is the highest approval rating for the president in either poll since 2009. 
   
   There’s also been a clear increase in public satisfaction with the way things are going in the United States, although by a margin of nearly 2-1, Americans are still dissatisfied with the direction of the country. 
   
   The president gets big bounces on dealing with Afghanistan, with his approval rating soaring to 60 percent, and on handling the threat of terrorism, where he recorded a career high of 69 percent. 
   
   More than three-quarters of all Americans say the president deserves credit for the killing of the bin Laden in Pakistan on Sunday. Among Republicans, 61 percent say Obama deserves at least some credit for the move. But just 17 percent of them say he deserves a “great deal” of credit for bringing bin Laden to justice after a nearly 10-year pursuit by U.S. intelligence and military forces. 
   
   Republicans are more apt to give former president George W. Bush acclaim for killing bin Laden, with 81 percent saying he deserves at least some of the credit for what happened Sunday. Only 35 percent of Democrats share that view, however, with a slender 4 percent giving the former president a lot of credit. 
   
   There is more bipartisan agreement that the U.S. military and intelligence deserve a great deal of credit for the killing. 
   
   For the president, the nine-point increase in his overall approval rating is on par with the six-point increase in Bush’s numbers in the weeks following the capture of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in December 2003. Then, as now, political independents moved the most. 
   
   Compared with the mid-April Post-ABC poll, Obama’s approval rating among independents is now 10 points higher, at 52 percent. Bush got an identical 10-point boost among independents in December 2003. For Bush, that lift proved short-lived, with the entire increase gone within six weeks. 
   
   How long Obama’s improved ratings will last is, of course, an open question. The fact that there was no movement in Obama’s approval on the economy — still the top issue by far in the country — offers a reminder of the challenges that remain for the White House. Obama’s 40 percent approval on the economy in this one-night poll is the lowest of his presidency in Washington Post polls, though it has been numerically lower in Pew surveys. 
   
   The Post-Pew poll was conducted by conventional landline and cellular telephone Monday evening, and included interviews with 654 randomly selected adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. 
   
   Polling manager Peyton M. Craighill also contributed to this report. ||||| While the public lauds the president’s performance killing Bin Laden, he got no overall bounce in a new Newsweek/Daily Beast poll. Also: Obama vs. Bush on terror and Obama vs. Trump in 2012. Plus, full coverage of Osama bin Laden. 
   
   
   
   How much overall boost did President Obama get from the capture of Osama Bin Laden? None, according to an exclusive Newsweek / Daily Beast poll encompassing 1,200 American adults, conducted in the two days immediately before the president’s Sunday announcement about the terrorist leader, and then the two days immediately after. 
   
   Specifically, Americans like the way he handled the situation, giving him strong results in strength and decision-making (55 percent now term him a strong leader overall, and 63 percent do so in the area of terrorism). Yet he did not get any overall bump in terms of approval rating, or electoral support. His approval rate was unchanged—48 approve, 49 disapprove, both before and after. There was also no statistical change in whether Obama deserves reelection—40/48 before, 39/49 after. 
   
   Photos: Inside bin Laden’s Compound 
   
   The clear reason: It's the economy, stupid. Even after Bin Laden’s death, only 30 percent think the country is on the right track, and only 27 percent think the economy is on the right track. Respondents disapprove of President Obama's handling of the economy by a margin of 56 percent to 39 percent. 
   
   When compared to President George W. Bush, 48 percent of respondents say Obama deserves more credit for the death of Bin Laden, while 31 percent say Bush. Yet when asked who did better prosecuting the war on terror, even after the killing, the results are nearly reversed: 31 percent say Obama, 45 percent say Bush. 
   
   Meanwhile, in terms of the putting the birther issue to rest, while Donald Trump was close to Obama a month ago, the president now crushes the tycoon/reality star, 53 percent to 25 percent. The poll, encompassing 600 people on Saturday April 30th and Sunday May 1st, and a further 600 on Monday May 2nd and Tuesday May 3rd., was conducted by Douglas E. Schoen, LLC on behalf of Newsweek/The Daily Beast, and has a margin of sampling error of +/-3 percent. 
   
   Full results below: 
   
   APPROVAL RATING 
   
   BEFORE: 48% APPROVE, 49% DISAPPROVE 
   
   AFTER: 48% APPROVE, 49% DISAPPROVE 
   
   COUNTRY HEADING IN THE RIGHT OR WRONG DIRECTION? 
   
   BEFORE: Right, 20%, Wrong, 65% 
   
   AFTER: Right, 30%, Wrong 55% 
   
   ECONOMY HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION? 
   
   BEFORE: Right, 31%, Wrong, 56% 
   
   AFTER: Right, 27%, Wrong 60% 
   
   HAS OBAMA DONE HIS JOB WELL ENOUGH TO DESERVE RE-ELECTION? 
   
   BEFORE: Yes, 40%, No, 48% 
   
   AFTER: 39%, No, 49% 
   
   WHO WOULD YOU VOTE FOR (LIKELY VOTERS ONLY IN MATCH-UP BETWEEN: 
   
   Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney 
   
   BEFORE: 44% Obama/44% Romney 
   
   AFTER: 42% Obama/36% Romney 
   
   Barack Obama vs. Mike Huckabee 
   
   BEFORE: 46% Obama/43% Huckabee 
   
   AFTER: 42% Obama/38% Huckabee 
   
   Barack Obama vs. Sarah Palin 
   
   BEFORE: 53% Obama/35% Palin 
   
   AFTER: 50% Obama/29% Palin 
   
   Barack Obama vs. Donald Trump 
   
   BEFORE: 55% Obama/30% Trump 
   
   AFTER: 53% Obama/25% Trump 
   
   In the wake of the capture of Osama Bin Laden… 
   
   Do you think President Obama is a strong leader overall? 
   
   STRONG 55% 
   
   WEAK 44% 
   
   Do you think President Obama is a strong leader in the war on terrorism? 
   
   STRONG 63% 
   
   WEAK 34% 
   
   Do you think President Obama has made the world more safe or less safe, or no impact? 
   
   More safe 38% 
   
   Less safe 16% 
   
   No impact 40% 
   
   Does news that U.S. forces have killed Osama bin Laden make you more favorable, to President Obama less favorable, or does it not impact your opinion? 
   
   More favorable 26% 
   
   Less favorable 3% 
   
   No impact 67% 
   
   Do you think President Obama deserves all of the credit, some of the credit, not much of the credit, or none of the credit for this operation? 
   
   All of the credit 10% 
   
   Some of the credit 59% 
   
   Not much of the 
   
   credit 13% 
   
   None of the credit 14% 
   
   Who do you think deserves more credit for Bin Laden's capture - President Obama or President George W. Bush? 
   
   President Obama 48% 
   
   President George W. 
   
   Bush 31% 
   
   Who has done a better job at prosecuting the war on terror - President Obama or President Bush? 
   
   President Obama 31% 
   
   President George W. 
   
   Bush 45% 
   
   Has news that Osama bin Laden has been killed made you more confident in President Obama's ability to lead America, less confident in President Obama's ability to lead America, or does it not impact your opinion? 
   
   More confident 30% 
   
   Less confident 3% 
   
   No impact 65% 
   
   Has news that Osama bin Laden has been killed made you more confident in President Obama's foreign policy, less confident, or does it not impact your opinion? 
   
   More confident 27% 
   
   Less confident 4% 
   
   Does not impact 
   
   opinion 64% 
   
   Has news that Osama bin Laden has been killed made you feel safer, less safe, or no impact? 
   
   Safer 26% 
   
   Les safe 14% 
   
   No impact 55% 
   
   With Osama bin Laden dead, do you feel more or less support for war in Afghanistan? 
   
   More support 30% 
   
   Less support 23% 
   
   The same 38% 
   
   Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, should the U.S. continue to fight the war in Afghanistan or should we now move on and focus on problems at home? 
   
   Continue to fight 33% 
   
   Move on and focus on 
   
   problems at home 57% 
   
   Do you think that Americans have had to give up too many freedoms in the war on terror? 
   
   Yes 49% 
   
   No 47% 
   
   Has news that Osama bin Laden has been killed changed the way you will vote in the 2012 presidential election from the way you felt before Sunday night. 
   
   Yes 5% 
   
   No 92% 
   
   Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long. 
   
   For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.
target: – Barack Obama’s approval rating took a pretty significant jump overnight after the killing of Osama bin Laden, with 56% now saying they approve of the job he’s doing overall, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted last night. That’s a 9-point increase from Obama’s April rating. He also notched a career high 69% approval rating for his handling of terrorism, and a 60% approval rating for his work in Afghanistan. Obama’s boost is nearly identical to the one Bush got after Saddam Hussein’s capture in 2003. In both cases, independents moved the most, improving their view of each president by 10 percentage points. But it wasn’t all good news for the White House: The public is as skeptical as ever of Obama’s handling of the economy, with an unchanged 40% approving. That could make sustaining the Osama boost a challenge. (Meanwhile, a Daily Beast/Newsweek poll finds little change in his overall approval rating before and after the raid.)