No change in political tone in Washington under Obama

About half of American believes that the political tone in Washington under president Barack Obama remains the same and it has not changed in the two weeks he has been in the power, a national poll has suggested.

As Obama has been negotiating with the opposition Republicans on economic stimulus package, a USA Today/Gallup Poll has revealed that nearly one quarter (23 per cent) of the people surveyed believe that the "overall tone and level of civility" between the Republicans and the Democrats have gotten worse.

Only about one-fifth (21 per cent) of the people survey said that it has improved, while 51 per cent of the Americans said that they do not see the Obama's promise of raising the level of political discourse in Washington panning out.

The White House spokesperson yesterday said the president does not believe that he would be changing things in Washington in just two weeks.

"I think the president would say to you that he didn't believe that we were going to change the way Washington has worked the past three decades in the first two weeks of this administration," White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said.

"Is changing the way Washington works going to be more than a two-week job? Yes, it is, and thankfully we've got four years to try," he said.