Obama’s approval hits two-year high in AP-GfK poll

A little more than a week after the death of Osama bin Laden, President Obama's approval rating his hit a two-year high in a new Associated Press/GfK poll.

According to the poll, which was released this morning, 60 percent of those surveyed now approve of the job Obama is doing as president.

That's an increase of seven points since March, and marks the highest number Obama has posted since May 2009.

More than half of those surveyed—53 percent--believe Obama deserves to be re-elected in 2012, a slight uptick since earlier this year.

Meanwhile, in contrast to other recent polls—including last week's Gallup Poll and Monday's NBC/Wall Street Journal survey—the AP poll finds public opinion has also ticked up on how Obama has managed the economy. According to the poll, 52 percent of those surveyed approve of the Obama's job on the economy—a five point increase since March.

Still, a majority of Americans—52 percent—still believe the country is on the wrong track, a number that will have to improve if Obama is to win re-election.

Given the disparity between this poll and other recent surveys, it's worth mentioning the sample of likely voters AP used in the poll is a little unusual. As Hot Air's Ed Morrissey notes, the poll appears to have oversampled Democrats by nearly 17 points.

Last night, the president traveled to Austin, Texas, where he raised cash for his re-election campaign. He touted last week's death of bin Laden for the first time on the stump—linking it with his list of other first-term successes, including health care reform and the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays serving openly in the military.

"And because of the extraordinary bravery of the men and women who wear this nation's uniform and the outstanding work of our intelligence agencies, Osama Bin Laden will never again threaten the United States of America," Obama declared, as applause erupted. "We couldn't be prouder of them."

(Photo of Obama in Austin: Charles Dharapak/AP)