Americans Not Thrilled About Obama Bypassing Congress

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Obama repeated his shop-worn mantra about being prepared to bypass Congress "wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation." Whatever slack Americans may still be willing to cut the president at this late date doesn't extend to unilateral action, however—fewer than a third of us are on-board with that idea.

A CNN/ORC poll taken after the speech asked people, "In general, would you rather see Barack Obama attempt to reach a bipartisan compromise with Congress on major issues, or would you rather see Obama take unilateral action without Congress to make changes in government policy that are not supported by Republicans?"

Only 30 percent said they wanted Obama to take action without Congress, while 67 percent held out for bipartisan compromise.

Overall, the poll found the weakest response to the State of the Union addresses given by the current president since he took office. The "very positive" column has drifted downward from 68 percent at the first speech, to 53 percent last year, to 44 percent this time (though the meh "somewhat positive" numbers are up a bit).

Americans seem a bit jaded about the guy in the White House, and letting him go it alone isn't in the cards.