President Obama maintains strong support in New Jersey, with the majority of those polled approving of his job performance and optimistic that his second year will be better than the first, according to a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll released today. Overall, 55 percent of New Jersey residents approve of the job President Obama is doing while 36 percent disapprove, higher than the national average of 48 percent approving to 49 percent disapproving. The poll, which also said more independents approved of the president’s job performance, 49 percent, than disapproved, 41 percent, comes despite national pundits repeatedly seeing the election of Gov. Chris Christie as a blue-state referendum on Obama and his policies. Less favorably, a majority of New Jersey residents who were polled thought that the administration’s policies benefited Wall Street more than the middle class, and those polled expressed large disapproval for both parties in Congress, the poll said. Star Ledger