华盛顿——新政府执政两周以来，大多数美国人表示他们至少对总统有一些信心乔·拜登以及他管理国家面临的无数危机的能力，包括肆虐的冠状病毒大流行。
根据美联社-NORC公共事务研究中心的一项新调查，总体而言，61%的人赞同拜登上任第一天对工作的处理。尽管拜登的大部分支持来自民主党人，但约四分之一的共和党人表示，他们支持他早期的执政。
即使在国家分裂严重的时刻，这些数字表明拜登，像他最近的大多数前任一样，可能会享受一段蜜月期。根据盖洛普民意调查，几乎所有现代总统在上任的前三个月平均支持率都在55%或以上。有一个例外:唐纳德·特朗普在盖洛普民意调查中，他的支持率从未超过50%，即使在他担任总统之初。
拜登在公众中的地位将很快面临重大考验。他从特朗普那里继承了一场失控的流行病、关键疫苗的缓慢推出、严重的经济不确定性以及1月6日国会山暴乱的不和谐后果。历史学家将这种历史性的危机融合与亚伯拉罕·林肯在内战前夕或富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福在大萧条时期面临的危机进行了比较。
拜登的顾问们知道，美国人将很快对新总统对这场流行病的处理进行评判。这场流行病已造成美国45万多人死亡。他正紧急向国会施压，要求通过一项1.9万亿美元的救助计划，其中包括疫苗分发、学校重新开放以及州和地方政府在流行病压力下的资金。
拜登周二对众议院民主党人表示:“我们必须做大，而不是做小。”。他已经表示，他愿意削减他的1.9万亿美元的提议，但没有一些共和党人希望的那么多。一群共和党参议员提出了他们自己的6180亿美元的一揽子计划。
大约四分之三的美国人表示，他们至少对拜登处理疫情的能力有一些信心，而大约四分之一的人几乎没有信心。尽管如此，这种信心是可以衡量的——不超过十分之四的人表示，他们对拜登在处理调查中提出的任何问题上“非常信任”。
从一开始，拜登就试图将他应对这一流行病的方法以及整体治理与特朗普的方法区分开来。他授权公共卫生官员和其他专家，将他们置于新冠肺炎和其他政策问题简报的最前沿，不像前总统，他经常与冠状病毒特别工作组成员发生冲突。
根据美联社-NORC的调查，大约80%的人至少对拜登有一定的信任，相信他会将专家和顾问的建议纳入自己的决策。大约四分之三的人对拜登有效管理白宫的能力非常有信心。
美联社-NORC 12月的一项民意调查显示，美国人将这一流行病和经济确定为美国政府2021年的重中之重。这两个问题是直接相关的，流行病袭击了全国各地的企业，并在各州和城市努力应对公共卫生限制时造成经济不确定性。
大约三分之二的美国人表示，他们至少对拜登处理经济和就业的能力有一些信心。这与他在医疗保健、种族关系和气候变化方面的公众支持率相似。
在上任的头两周，拜登签署了一系列关于这些政策优先事项和其他问题的行政命令，主要目的是撤销特朗普政府的行动。其中包括:重新加入巴黎气候协议，暂停公共土地上新的石油和天然气租赁，以及撤销特朗普时代对几个穆斯林占多数的国家的人的旅行禁令。
但行政行动的范围天生有限，拜登需要国会介入，帮助他通过议程中更广泛的方面。他在众议院和参议院都拥有最微弱的民主党多数席位，这意味着他要么需要共和党人支持他的议程，要么必须推动规则改革，使立法以更少的票数通过。
只有20%的美国人表示，他们对拜登与国会共和党人合作的能力非常有信心，尽管另有45%的人表示他们有一定的信心。
65岁的汤姆·蒂尔尼来自华盛顿的里奇兰，他在11月投票支持拜登，并表示他对共和党人与新总统合作的意愿持怀疑态度。他敦促拜登不要浪费时间，如果共和党领导人坚持他的议程。
蒂尔尼说:“我认为拜登最终会强硬起来，说，你们知道吗，你们真的不想妥协。”他自称是一名温和的独立人士。
拜登在赢得选举后已经面临巨大的阻力，但在1月6日国会大厦暴乱后，该国面临的危机升级。这场叛乱揭示了特朗普对选举完整性的虚假攻击在多大程度上引起了他的支持者的共鸣，以及对国家民主机构构成的威胁。
拜登在就职演说中指出了美国民主的持久性和脆弱性，这是一个特别尖锐的信息，因为他是在两周前被亲特朗普的暴徒占领的同一个国会大厦台阶上发表讲话的。
大多数美国人(70%)表示，他们认为拜登尊重该国的民主制度。
39岁的米格尔·卡斯蒂略(Miguel Castillo)来自佐治亚州哥伦布市，他在2020年投票支持特朗普，对拜登的开场白并不感冒。然而他说，为了国家，他希望新总统能够成功。
“无论他做什么，都会影响到我们所有的美国人，”卡斯蒂略说。“我希望他的任期是一个好的任期。我不希望他失败。老实说，我没有。”
AP-NORC Poll: Americans open to Biden's approach to crises
WASHINGTON -- Two weeks into a new administration, a majority of Americans say they have at least some confidence in President Joe Biden and his ability to manage the myriad crises facing the nation, including the raging coronavirus pandemic.
Overall, 61% approve of Biden’s handling of his job in his first days in office, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Though the bulk of Biden's support is from fellow Democrats, about a quarter of Republicans say they approve of his early days in office.
Even at a moment of deep national divisions, those numbers suggest Biden, as with most of his recent predecessors, may enjoy something of a honeymoon period. Nearly all modern presidents have had approval ratings averaging 55% or higher over their first three months in office, according to Gallup polling. There was one exception: Donald Trump, whose approval rating never surpassed 50% in Gallup polls, even at the start of his presidency.
Biden’s standing with the public will quickly face significant tests. He inherited from Trump a pandemic spiraling out of control, a sluggish rollout of crucial vaccines, deep economic uncertainty and the jarring fallout of the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill. It’s a historic confluence of crises that historians have compared to what faced Abraham Lincoln on the eve of the Civil War or Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the depths of the Great Depression.
Biden’s advisers know that the new president will be quickly judged by Americans on his handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 450,000 people in the U.S. He’s urgently pressing Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion relief package that would include funds for vaccine distribution, school reopening and state and local governments buckling under the strain of the pandemic.
“We have to go big, not small,” Biden told House Democrats on Tuesday. He’s signaled that he’s open to trimming his $1.9 trillion proposal but not as far as some Republicans are hoping. A group of GOP senators has put forward their own $618 billion package.
About three-quarters of Americans say they have at least some confidence in Biden’s ability to handle the pandemic, while about a quarter have hardly any. Still, that confidence is measured — no more than about 4 in 10 say they have “a great deal” of trust in Biden to handle any issue asked about in the poll.
From the start, Biden has sought to differentiate his approach to the pandemic, and governing as a whole, from Trump's. He's empowered public health officials and other experts, putting them at the forefront of briefings on COVID-19 and other policy issues, unlike the former president, who often clashed with members of his coronavirus task force.
According to the AP-NORC survey, about 8 in 10 have at least some trust in Biden to incorporate the advice of experts and advisers into his decision-making. Roughly three-quarters have a great deal or some confidence in Biden’s ability to effectively manage the White House.
A December AP-NORC poll showed that Americans identified the pandemic and the economy as their top priorities for the U.S. government in 2021. The two issues are directly linked, with the pandemic battering businesses across the country and creating economic uncertainty as states and cities grapple with public health restrictions.
About two-thirds of Americans say they have at least some confidence in Biden’s ability to handle the economy and jobs. That’s similar to his ratings from the public on his approach to health care, race relations and climate change.
In his first two weeks in office, Biden has signed a blizzard of executive orders on those policy priorities and others, largely aimed at undoing actions of the Trump administration. Among them: rejoining the Paris climate accord, pausing new oil and gas leases on public lands and reversing a Trump-era travel ban on people from several majority-Muslim countries.
But executive actions are inherently limited in scope, and Biden needs Congress to step in to help him pass the more sweeping aspects of his agenda. He has the narrowest of Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate, meaning he’ll either need some Republican support for his agenda or have to push through rule changes that would allow legislation to pass with fewer votes.
Just 20% of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in Biden’s ability to work with Republicans in Congress, though another 45% say they are somewhat confident.
Tom Tierney, 65, of Richland, Washington, voted for Biden in November and said he's skeptical about Republicans' willingness to work with the new president. He urged Biden to not waste time if GOP leaders are holding up his agenda.
“I think that Biden’s going to have to eventually play hardball and say, you know what, you guys don’t really want to compromise,” said Tierney, who described himself as a moderate independent.
Biden was already facing enormous headwinds after winning the election, but the crises facing the country escalated after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. The insurrection revealed the extent to which Trump’s false attacks on the integrity of the election had resonated with his supporters and the threat that posed to the nation’s democratic institutions.
In his inaugural address, Biden noted both the durability and the fragility of American democracy, a particularly pointed message given that he was speaking from the same Capitol steps that had been overrun by the pro-Trump mob just two weeks earlier.
A majority of Americans — 70% — say they think Biden respects the country’s democratic institutions.
Miguel Castillo, 39, of Columbus, Georgia, voted for Trump in 2020 and hasn't been impressed with Biden's opening moves. Yet he said he's hopeful for the sake of the country that the new president succeeds.
“Whatever he does, it affects all of us as Americans,” Castillo said. “I hope that his presidency is a good presidency. I don’t wish him to fail. I honestly do not. ”
