he talked about it a short time ago with the pew research center's andrew kohut. >> suarez: andy kohut, welcome. you've been measuring public attitudes since election day. is it shifting in a way that gives president obama a stronger hand in dealing with republican leaders as we approach the fiscal cliff? >> no question. he's gotten a lot of -- he has a lot of capital with the public. his approval ratings have surged to 55%. a point of comparison, president busin dembe 2004, was at 48%. we asked people is obama trying to make a serious effort to negotiate a deal, get a deal, 55% say yes. when we say the same thing about republican leaders just 32% say yes. the democrats are better regarded in this negotiation than the republicans by a lot. >> suarez: did you ask people what they would be willing to put up with in order to get some sort of solution? for instance, do they suppt raising taxes on the wealthiest americans? >> well, they have a very mixed view of things. they support raising taxes on those who earn more than $250,000. 69%, i believe the statistic. they believe in raising tax