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Foreign perception vs. Domestic policy

Posted by TONY CAMPBELL, Columnist in At TMV, Media, Politics.
Apr 7th, 2009 | Comments

CBS News is reporting that a new public opinion poll shows that 66% of the people interviewed approve of the job that President Obama has done in his two plus months on the job. The interesting thing about this poll is the timing of it… while the President is on his first major foreign trip.

President Obama has accomplished the unthinkable over the past 70 days. In his policy decisions with A.I.G. and GM, he has fundamentally shifted the private / governmental balance to the side of the national government. If George W. Bush had even attempted to do this, there would be angry protesters in the streets. These poll numbers are scary to me because Obama can do just about anything and get away with it. After all, the Congress passed Obama’s budget with limited debate and not a single Republican voted for it.

If there is one covertly negative aspect about the legacy of George W. Bush, it is that the American people were so hungry for “change”, they never really bothered to find out what kind of change Obama really meant. As the saying goes… be careful what you wish for…

  • If there is one covertly negative aspect about the legacy of George W. Bush, it is that the American people were so hungry for “change”, they never really bothered to find out what kind of change Obama really meant. As the saying goes… be careful what you wish for…

    I think you are underestimating many Americans. President Obama projected a calming demeanor and a "thoughtfulness" that those Americans felt were missing from President Bush's years. They knew they were going to get a calming thoughtfulness in his governing style. But our country's issues are a complex system. And the Obama Administration is another complex system. When multiple complex systems inter-react, you get unexpected and many times complex outcomes. You can't predict that. And you never know what you are going to get. President Obama's approval ratings are still high since those polled do feel they are getting what they voted for (calming thoughtfulness on policy) so far even though he's facing the rigors of governing. We Americans are fickle. Obama does something that "irritates" too much, those the voted for him will turn quickly.
  • Janjanjan
    It may be that I just wasn't paying enough attention 8 years ago and 16 years ago, but I don't remember score-keeping on a daily and hourly basis like we seem to have today. We'd go whole days with no outrage! From my own reactions, I think people who hear and see constant, even contrived outrage, tend to push back. When every single issue that gets discussed on cable news channels requires a "he said, she said" style, my brain just considers the resulting noise offensive, and I draw my own conclusions. And, those conclusions, no matter who is being criticized, are never as angry as the commentators seem to want them to be.
  • DaGoat
    These poll numbers are scary to me because Obama can do just about anything and get away with it.

    This was one of my concerns pre-election. We saw how one party holding all the power worked out with GWB, and the potential is there for things to turn out equally as bad with the Democrats.

    While Obama may have a calm and moderate image, he allowed Reid and Pelosi to write their own stimulus bill, did nothing to moderate pork-barrel spending, and proposed a budget that quadruples the deficit even using optimistic projections. He also intends to overhaul health care and education although as yet he doesn't appear to have an actual plan. These aren't the actions of a moderate and should be questioned, not blindly accepted.
  • I agree with you janjanjan. I grow SO tired of daily score keeping. And it did exist in Bush Presidency as well. It's one of the issues I have with political news punditry in general. Things DON'T happen fast (especially from a national policy perspective) so issues are manufactured, parsed, re-parsed, flipped, baked, fried, stir-fried, broiled, etc constantly.

    @DaGoat: Your right about the Reid/Pelosi deal. I had a feeling that would happen since they were effectively "unchained" when Obama won. But it's still WAY to early to say "He also intends to overhaul health care and education although as yet he doesn't appear to have an actual plan". We'll see if the plan presents itself.

    Another thing, why don't we change Congress when we always have a 50/50 split of the "Big Two" representatives and senators to force bipartisanship and FULL discussion. That would make things mighty interesting. Just thinking out loud...
  • Leonidas
    Total Respondents 998

    Total Republicans 264 26.4%
    Total Democrats 349 35%
    Total Independents 385 38.6%

    With a sample like that who can be surprised at the results? I mean does anyone believe for a second that only about 26.4% of Americans identify as Republicans?
  • pacatrue
    Well, Obama said he'd try to dump lots of attention and money on energy, healthcare, and the environment. His budget dumps tons of money right there. The Republican administration before him wanted hundreds of billions to bail-out financial institutions hopefully for the greater good, and the Obama administration is following the same path. He talked about how he would engage nations diplomatically and with a partnership focus, and he's done that. Obama said he would shift military focus from Iraq to Central Asia, and he's doing that. It's not clear he's actually done all that much different than he said he would do.

    The main place I disagree with him now is on the deficits of the proposed budgets, because I think they need to take the debt as seriously as they do healthcare. But it's not like he's flipped out compared either to his own campaign promises or the economic actions of the last admin.
  • GeorgeSorwell
    On the question of party identification, here's a chart of Gallup polls taken between 2004 and 2009 on that question.

    26% is certainly reasonable.
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