Confidence in White House up, in Wall Street down

Confidence in the White House rose this year but dropped for Wall Street and corporations, according to an annual poll conducted by Harris Interactive Inc. A survey of 1,010 adults conducted Feb. 10-15 by the Rochester, N.Y.-based research firm showed that those reporting a “great deal of confidence” in the White House leadership grew to 36%, from just 15% last year. The Harris Poll Confidence Index measures public perceptions of leadership and institutions and is based on the mean value of the questions asked. As a whole, the index rose to 54, from 44 last year, which is close to the results it posted in 2004 and 2007, the firm said. The 21-percentage-point-boost for confidence in the White House this year represented the largest increase on this question since the Jimmy Carter inauguration elicited a 20-point increase in 1977. Those surveyed also reported high levels of confidence in major educational institutions, which rose 8 percentage points over last year to 40%, and the military, which gained 7 percentage points to 58%. Just 45% of respondents indicated that they had a high level of confidence in Wall Street, down from 52% last year, and just 11% said that they had confidence in major companies, down from 14% last year. Just 9% of respondents said that they had a great deal of confidence in Congress, which was unchanged from last year.