In today’s Washington Post Style section, they polled prominent Washingtonians, asking who they trusted the way people used to trust Walter Cronkite. The answers varied, but one name kept coming up again and again.

We asked a few people to suggest public figures who meet the Cronkite standard of trustworthiness.
“I trust Barack Obama — he has incredible attributes and gifts — but does the system he operates in allow him to bring all of that to bear? I don’t think so.”
– Liz Lerman, founder of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.
“The first name that pops into my head is President Obama. I trust in him. I believe him. . . . Trust doesn’t mean you have to like someone, just that you believe them.” – Jeffrey Banks, New York menswear designer.
“I’m not supposed to say Jon Stewart, right? . . . [My husband] Bill and I both agree fervently that we trust President Obama. Absolutely. I like what I perceive as his deep thoughtfulness.”– Deeda Blair, philanthropist and wife of William McCormick Blair, former U.S. ambassador to Denmark and the Philippines.
“Barack Obama. I respected him when he ran for office, and I respect him now. He is a man of integrity, he communicates well, and he is optimistic without being unrealistic.” – Stacy Keach, star of “King Lear” at Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Interestingly, one of the top stories in Politico, today:

Trust in President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies to identify the right solutions to problems facing the country has dropped off significantly since March, according to a new Public Strategies Inc./POLITICO poll.
Just as Obama intensifies his efforts to fulfill a campaign promise and reach an agreement with Congress on health care reform, the number of Americans who say they trust the president has fallen from 66 percent to 54 percent. At the same time, the percentage of those who say they do not trust the president has jumped from 31 to 42.