A national poll out Wednesday finds strong public optimism and support for President-elect Barack Obama’s tentative agenda more than two months before his inauguration, although a smaller majority doesn’t trust his claim on raising taxes.  

The Quinnipiac University poll found 70 percent of Americans believe the economy will improve during Obama’s first term, 56 percent believe public trust in government will improve and 69 percent believe race relations will improve. Another 62 percent said Obama will be a “great” or “good” president.  

“Americans have exceptionally high hopes for President-elect Barack Obama … but were not optimistic that Obama can keep his core campaign promise,” Carroll said. “More than half doubt he’ll be able to do it.” 

The poll was conducted Nov. 6-10 by the Connecticut-based polling firm and included 2,210 registered voters nationwide, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percent. 

In an open-ended portion of the survey, 68 percent of respondents identified the economy as the biggest problem facing the U.S. No other issue reached double digits. 

On issues, though, the poll found strong confidence in Obama. Sixty-two percent said they believe he can improve the country’s energy independence, while 55 percent believe he can improve education. Seventy percent also say Obama will act in a bipartisan way to implement his agenda.

But the poll also found significant unfamiliarity with some of the top figures surrounding Obama. While 67 percent of respondents had a favorable opinion of Obama himself, there was only 50 percent approval for his wife, Michelle, and Vice President-elect Joe Biden. These are largely explained by the public’s unfamiliarity with both figures; 31 percent of respondents said they didn’t know enough about Michelle Obama to offer an opinion, for example.