71% Say Obama Hasn't Been Tough Enough on BP

The public is overwhelmingly pessimistic, and angry, about the Deepwater Horizon spill. According to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, 80% of Americans expect the spill to hurt the US economy and drive up the cost of gas. Half predict that some beaches will never be the same, and even more doubt fish and bird populations will ever recover. A whopping 71% say President Obama’s not being tough enough on BP.

Predictably, respondents weren’t in the mood to forgive BP, either; almost 60% said the company should be forced to pay financial losses even if it drives it out of business. Half said BP had done a “very poor” job handling the crisis—the lowest possible response—while one in four said the same of Obama. Yet a narrow margin still favors leaving BP in charge of cleanup, rather than having the government takeover. (More British Petroleum stories.)