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Barack Obama - According to a Harris Interactive poll published Jan. 10, 62 percent of Americans like President Obama as a person; 49 percent like his political opinions; and only 43 percent like his track record as president, while 50 percent do not.(Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

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Mitt Romney - Mitt Romney has struggled to win the hearts of his party’s conservative base, but a Gallop survey published Jan. 10 shows that 59 percent of conservative voters consider him an “acceptable” presidential nominee. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Photo By Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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Obama vs. Romney - Mitt Romney is gaining ground on President Obama, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Jan. 10. Obama leads Romney by 48 percent to 43 percent, compared to 48 percent to 40 percent a month ago. (Photos from Left to right: Ethan Miller/Getty Images, EPA/CJ GUNTHER /LANDOV)

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South Carolina Primary - As South Carolina prepares to hold the first-in-the-South presidential primary, a Public Polling Policy survey published Jan. 10 found that Mitt Romney leads the field by 27 percent. He is followed by Newt Gingrich, 23 percent; Rick Santorum, 18 percent; Ron Paul, 8 percent; Rick Perry, 7 percent and Jon Huntsman, 4 percent. (Photo: Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images)

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Congress - After observing the inability of congressional Democrats and Republicans to see eye-to-eye in case after case, 55 percent of the American public says it’s the members, not the political system, that’s to blame for constant gridlock, according to a Pew Research Center poll published Jan. 10.(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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The Nation's Direction - A Gallup poll published Jan. 11 found that 18 percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States. It may not seem like much, but is an improvement from the latter half of 2011, when satisfaction ranged from 11 percent to 16 percent.(Photo: Tina Fineberg/AP Photo)