Can you be anxious and optimistic at the same time? That's how most Americans feel right now: anxious about the economy, optimistic about the new administration, and for good measure a little nervous about foreign policy.

In the February CBS News/New York Times poll, 61 percent of Americans described the nation's economy as "very bad," with an additional 30 percent saying it was "fairly bad." At the same time, 63 percent said they approved of the job that Barack Obama was doing as president. When was the last time President Bush had an approval rating exceeding 60 percent? You have to go all the way back to December 2003, about half a year after the initial fighting ended in Iraq.

These days, political optimism is overtaking economic pessimism. An impressive 77 percent of Americans say they feel "optimistic about the next four years" with Obama as president.

Business scandals seem to be breaking out everywhere: financiers Bernard Madoff and Robert Allen Stanford facing allegations of multibillion-dollar swindles; Swiss banks helping Americans hide money from the tax man; Wall Street executives getting million-dollar bonuses; and bankrupt companies hosting lavish executive retreats. Aren't these the people who got the nation into economic trouble in the first place? Does the public expect them to bail the country out?

Well, no. Last month's CNN poll conducted by Opinion Research asked Americans how much confidence they have in various groups to make the decisions needed to help the country overcome its economic problems. At the top of the list were politicians!

Three-quarters of Americans feel confident that the Obama administration will make the right economic decisions. Two-thirds have faith in congressional Democrats. A majority has confidence in congressional Republicans.

And the private sector? Not so much. Actually, labor union leaders don't fare too badly; nearly half of respondents express confidence in them. But Wall Street investors? Bankers and financial executives? Auto company executives? No more than 30 percent of respondents had faith in any of those groups.

Right now, Americans trust political leaders more than business leaders. That rarely happens, and it has consequences.

Major automakers are asking the federal government for billions of dollars in loans. Otherwise, they say, they might go bankrupt. Does the public think that the government should help them? No, 61 percent to 37 percent. Do people think that the federal government should provide more assistance to banks and other large financial institutions? No again, 62 percent to 36 percent.

What about homeowners who can't pay their mortgages? They're different. They're ordinary people who made bad financial decisions. In the public's view, they deserve government help (63 percent to 36 percent).

In foreign policy, the public is ready to declare victory in Iraq and bring the troops home. Obama promised in his address to Congress last month, "I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war." Fifty percent of Americans now think that the United States is winning in Iraq. That's the highest number in nearly five years. But the optimism has not changed the public's view of the war: Two-thirds still oppose it. And just over two-thirds want the president to remove most U.S. troops, as he has pledged to do by August 31, 2010.

Afghanistan is different. Far fewer Americans (just 31 percent) think that the United States is winning that war. But there is more public backing for it (47 percent). Support is coming from Democratic congressional leaders as well. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said after visiting the troops last month, "Afghanistan cannot be allowed to be a safe haven for terrorists to launch attacks against the United States. Everybody has known that since 9/11."

But Afghanistan is not too different. Democratic voters polled by CNN said they oppose that war by nearly 2-to-1 (64 percent to 33 percent). Obama has said he will send 17,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Does the public support that decision? Yes, 63 percent to 36 percent. In fact, nearly 60 percent of Democrats support it. Democrats are apprehensive about Afghanistan, but they're willing to give their president the benefit of the doubt.

Bottom line: The public is weary of the war in Iraq, and wary of the war in Afghanistan.

This article appeared in the Saturday, March 7, 2009 edition of National Journal.

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