President-elect Obama will enter the White House with sky-high approval ratings and hopes of a dour, but optimistic, electorate on his shoulders, according to a new poll.

The Hart/McInturff poll, conducted by Democratic pollster Peter Hart and Republican pollster Bill McInturff, shows two in three voters have positive views of the incoming president, and 45 percent feel very positively about Obama. That is higher than at any point before, and about 10 points higher than the previous high, recorded just before the election.

The scores, released in the poll taken for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, should allow Obama’s presidency “a longer time to be able to prove itself,” Hart said at a breakfast hosted by The Christian Science Monitor.

Obama will begin his presidency with an electorate that sees an economy in turmoil. Fully 90 percent of voters say the economy has gotten worse in the past year, and just 36 percent say they think it will get better in the coming 12 months. 

But it is also an electorate eager to change what has become the fundamental core of Washington over the past several decades. A majority, 52 percent, said they expect the next four years will bring a period of unity through consensus, while 42 percent say they see an impending period of division. That is much better than the way the electorate felt in 2004, when just 27 percent expected unity and 65 percent foresaw division.

“This is a country that is desperately trying to come together and is looking for a unity of purpose and a unity of direction,” Hart said.

He added that Obama should use his political capital early, and on economic issues, which remain atop voters’ minds. Obama can leverage his massive e-mail list, Hart said, to lobby wavering members of Congress.

Though pollsters and pundits debate the effect of Obama’s coattails during the 2008 elections, the incoming president’s favorable ratings seem to have a positive effect on those with whom he associates. Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton has seen her approval ratings jump to near-record levels, and former President Bill Clinton also received a bump.

Even congressional approval ratings have jumped, though they remain very low. About one in five voters approve of the job Congress is doing, up from just 12 percent two weeks before the election.

But while most approval ratings have gone up, those not associated with Obama continue to suffer. Voters see the Democratic Party in a historically good light, with 49 percent feeling positively about the party and just 28 percent seeing the new governing party in a negative light. That is almost as high as the previous record, set back in 2000. Conversely, fewer voters — 27 percent — see the Republican Party in a positive light than ever before, while 52 percent, another record, see the GOP negatively.

“We’ve never seen a greater disparity between where the Republicans stand and where the Democrats stand,” added Hart. “Certainly [Obama] has helped the Democratic brand and Bush has hurt the Republican brand.”