Obama remains very popular in Los Angeles, Times Poll finds

When it comes to L.A. and Barack Obama, the honeymoon continues.

Candidate Obama won overwhelmingly in Los Angeles back in November. Now, five months into his presidency, how's he doing? 

A new Los Angeles Times Poll shows his popularity remains extremely high in the city. By a 72%-17% margin, voters in Los Angeles approve of the job Obama is doing as president. 

The approval cuts across racial and ethnic lines. Obama gets approval from 88% of African American voters but also from 69% of whites and 69% of Latinos.

The Times Poll of 1,500 registered voters was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research in conjunction with Public Opinion Strategies, both polling firms based in Washington, D.C. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. The poll was conducted June 10-16. 

— David Lauter

 Check Sunday's Los Angeles Times for full results of the new Times Poll on topics including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's political future, the city's budget deficit and a look ahead at next year's race for governor. There will be additional poll results on the public's view of the Los Angeles Police Department and more. Poll data will also be broadcast on KTLA News.

Photo: L.A. Times

Obama's speech inspires Muslims in Los Angeles & around U.S.

In Los Angeles, Salam Al-Marayati beamed as he watched President Obama enumerate Muslim contributions to civilization and the United States.

In Dearborn, Mich., home to the nation’s largest Arab American community, leaders quietly hoped that Obama’s speech in Cairo would usher in a new era in American attitudes toward them.

And in Washington, the head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations praised Obama for repeatedly quoting the Koran and acknowledging damaging stereotypes of Muslims.

Even as Obama’s speech today reverberated through the Muslim world, back home it offered inspiration to U.S. Muslims seeking a new image for their community -- one they said had been eclipsed by the rhetoric of religious extremism in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

“I came away feeling confident that this president does take seriously his role in opposing stereotypes of Islam,” said Al-Marayati, head of the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council, who rose at 3 a.m. to watch the speech on television in his living room. “He will be a major source for all of us as one who debunks the myths about Islam and Muslims to the American public.”

Read full story here.

-- Duke Helfand in Los Angeles and P.J. Huffstutter in Fort Wayne, Ind.

A second L.A. official to leave Villaraigosa to work for Obama

Another member of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s senior staff is heading to Washington.

President Obama on Friday announced that he has nominated Mercedes Márquez, general manager of the city’s Housing Department, to become assistant secretary for community planning and development at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the post would be a reunion of sorts for Márquez. During the Clinton administration, she served as the senior counsel to the HUD secretary for civil rights and fair housing.

"Mercedes is energetic, passionate and has a deep understanding of the challenges facing big cities," Villaraigosa said in a statement released by his office. "She will be a true partner for Los Angeles at the federal level. I look forward to working hand in hand with her to build more affordable housing, invest in communities, revitalize our urban core, and build the foundation for more housing options for our hard-working families."

Maria Shriver says Obama joke wasn't funny to millions

Maria Shriver, California’s first lady and a Democrat who endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton last year, gave the president a wrist-slap this morning after he made fun of the Special Olympics, the nonprofit group for mentally disabled athletes founded by her mother.

Obama, who appeared on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno," said he’d improved at bowling lately, scoring 129. “It was like Special Olympics or something,” the president said, with a huge grin.

In a statement this morning, Shriver said, “While I am confident that President Obama never intended to offend anyone, the response that his comments have caused, coupled with the reaction of a primetime audience, demonstrate the need to continue to educate the non-disabled community on the issues that confront those with a developmental disability."

Shriver added: “Oftentimes we don’t realize that when we laugh at comments like this it hurts millions of people throughout the world.”

Obama called her brother, Tim Shriver, the chairman of Special Olympics, to apologize. Their mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, was a founder of the organization.