WASHINGTON - ABOUT 70 per cent of Americans are optimistic about President-elect Barack Obama's overall policies and believe he will be successful as president, according to a new ABC News-Washington Post opinion poll.

The survey released on Saturday showed that more than two-thirds of those polled thought he would make significant improvements to the health-care system.

About the same share of respondents expected him to implement policies to reduce global warming. And 64 per cent said he would be able to end US involvement in Iraq and turn around the country's image abroad.

More than half, 55 per cent, think he is off to a good start in dealing with the troubled US economy, the poll found.

Overall, 76 per cent approve of his handling of the transition. Even 59 per cent of Republican respondents gave him a positive assessment, the survey indicated.

There is also widespread public desire that he quickly expand his focus beyond the economy, the dominant issue facing the country.

Majorities want Mr Obama to help make major changes to the health-care system, enact new energy policies and institute a moratorium on home foreclosures.

But there is little consensus about where he should focus his efforts first, and partisan fault lines abound, setting up a potentially contentious period of initial lawmaking.

Mr Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress have indicated that the first legislation offered in the new year will focus on the flagging economy, an issue on which two-thirds of those polled said the new president and Congress should concentrate.

A similar proportion, 65 per cent, support a large stimulus package along the lines sketched out in recent days by the Obama transition team.

Most Democrats and independents want Mr Obama to fulfil his campaign pledge to pull out most of the US combat forces in Iraq during his first 16 months, while most Republicans would prefer that he drop the idea.

A majority of Republicans also oppose expanding federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, something most Democrats and about half of independents want Mr Obama to pursue right away.

Mr Obama and the incoming Democratic Congress enjoy more support from Republicans nationwide for a moratorium on home foreclosures.

One item on his agenda that few said he needs to pursue in the short term is the shuttering of the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Only among Democrats do a majority want him to attempt to close the facility and, even among them, more said he should do so later in his presidency.

The poll was conducted from Dec 11-14 and involved a random national sample of 1,003 adults.

WASHINGTON POST, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE