Poll: Confidence in Obama is up, not down

"Early stumbles by the Obama White House over some high-level appointments caused a firestorm in the Capitol and on cable TV this week, but most Americans dismiss them as just a normal part of staffing a new administration," USA TODAY Washington bureau chief Susan Page reports.

By a nearly 3-1 margin, she says, the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows "confidence in President Obama's ethical standards and his ability to manage the government and improve the economy has gone up rather than down since his inauguration last month."

The survey of 1,012 adults, reached on land lines and cellphones, was done on Wednesday -- the day after Tom Daschle withdrew his name from nomination for the post of Health and Human Services secretary. The results each have a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

The survey also shows that public opinion of the economic stimulus package working its way through Congress has not changed: 52% favor it; 38% oppose it. In late January, the figures were 52% and 37%. (The others had no opinion.)