More than two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the way President Barack Obama is handling high gasoline prices, although most do not blame him for them, according to a Reuters/Ipsos online poll released on Tuesday.
Sixty-eight percent disapprove and 24 percent approve of how Obama is responding to price increases that have become one of the biggest issues in the 2017 presidential campaign.
In the past month, US fuel prices have jumped about $0.30 per gallon to about $3.90 and the Republicans seeking to replace the Democrat in the November 6 election have seized upon the issue to attack his energy policies.
The disapproval reaches across party lines, potentially spelling trouble for Obama in the election, although the online survey showed voters hold oil companies or foreign countries more accountable than politicians for the price spike.
"Obama is getting heat for it but people aren't necessarily blaming him for it," said Chris Jackson, research director for Ipsos public affairs.
Majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents all disapprove of the president's handling of gas prices, according to the online poll of 606 Americans conducted March 26-27.
"People are unhappy that they are having to pay $3.90 a gallon. They want somebody to be able to lash out at and the president is as good a person as anybody," Jackson said.
The most common reason cited by voters of all political stripes for the rising cost was oil company greed.
Overall, 36 percent of respondents said "oil companies that want to make too much profit" deserve the most blame for higher energy prices. Twenty-eight percent of Republicans said so, as did 44 percent of Democrats and 32 percent of independents.
Twenty-six percent of all respondents said a range of factors was equally to blame, including oil companies, politicians, foreign countries that dominate oil reserves and environmentalists who want to limit oil exploration.
The poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points for all respondents.
(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)
双语资讯
(Agencies)
根据路透社/益普索在线调查周二发布的结果，超过三分之二的美国人不赞成奥巴马总统应对高油价的策略，尽管大多数人没有将油价上涨归咎于奥巴马。
68%的人表示不赞同，24%的人一致认为奥巴马如何应对油价上涨已经成为影响2017年总统大选最关键的问题之一。
在过去的一个月里，美国油价每加仑上涨0.3美元，涨至每加仑3.9美元，力图在11月6日的大选中取代民主党的共和党已经抓住这个问题来攻击奥巴马的能源政策。
尽管在线调查显示，投票者认为对油价上涨应负更多责任的是石油公司或外国，而非政界人士，然而各党派对奥巴马能源政策都普遍持不赞成的态度，这可能会在大选中给奥巴马带来麻烦。
益普索公共事务部的调研总监克里斯•杰克森说：“奥巴马为此正受到抨击，不过人们并不一定把油价上涨归咎于他。”
根据3月26日至27日开展的涵盖了606名美国人的在线调查，大多数共和党人、民主党人和独立派人士都不赞同总统处理油价的方法。
杰克森说：“人们不得不为每加仑汽油支付3.9美元，这让人们很不满。他们想找人痛骂一顿泄泄愤，总统也不例外。”
关于油价上涨的原因，各党派的投票者列举的最多的就是石油公司的贪婪。
总体上，36%的应答者称“想获取暴利的石油公司”应该为能源价格上涨承担最多责任。有28%的共和党人，还有44%的民主党人和32%的独立派人士这样认为。
全体受访者中有26%的人认为，一系列因素也同样推动了油价的上涨，包括石油公司、政界人士、控制石油储备资源的国家和想限制石油勘探的环保人士。
这项调查全体应答者的可信间隔率为正负4.6个百分点。
Vocabulary:
spell: 招致，带来，意味
lash out: 猛烈抨击
上一篇： 西班牙妓女“性罢工”逼银行家帮穷人