Poll: Obama approval rating at highest of second term

President Obama’s approval rating is at its highest level since just before his second inauguration in 2013, according to a new CNN/ORC poll released Thursday.

{mosads}The president’s approval rating rose to 54 percent after the Democratic National Convention last week. His disapproval rate is at 45 percent.

Obama’s approval rating is similar to that of President Ronald Reagan’s ratings in 1988 and is close to President Bill Clinton’s 57 percent approval rating at this point in 2000.

The poll found that 94 percent of voters who approve of Obama also backed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president in a head-to-head matchup with Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

Eighty-five percent of those who disapprove of Obama backed Trump.

Sixty-four percent said if Clinton were elected, she would mostly carry out Obama’s policies, while 33 percent think her policies would mostly be different than Obama’s.

Respondents who disapproved of Obama were more likely to believe a Clinton presidency will be an extension of Obama’s than those who approved of Obama.

The CNN/ORC poll was conducted from July 29 to 31 among 1,003 adults and 894 registered voters. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.