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Obama’s Sagging Popularity
President Barack Obama’s overall sagging popularity can be seen graphically via this poll composite from Pollster.com:
And among crucial independent voters?
A sign of the times: in New Hampshire, Obama is reportedly losing independent voters in droves.
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20 Responses to “Obama’s Sagging Popularity”
I'm more curious about what the effect is on this year's congressional elections. Those will determine our future more than the president.
His approval rating has gone up since the SOTU and Question Time. A net gain of 4 points for Gallup and 13 points for Rasmussen.
“35% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. That’s the highest level of strong approval for the President in more than seven months and reflects a significant bounce following the State-of-the-Union address.”
“Putting it all together gives Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -4. That’s the President’s best Approval Index rating in months. In fact, he’s earned a better rating on only two days in the past six months…”
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/…
You might want to clarify the post Joe.
Even if the symbolical gesture is wrong, some people are committed to it.
It doesn't matter that objectively republicans can't help – if one is feeling dissatisfied, one *must* vote out of dissatisfaction, even in vain or erroneously. Of course, by being so frivolous and emotional with one's vote, one helps pull the country in a more symbolical, absurd direction.
Independents are not centrist, moderate or even purple by default. Libertarian or even liberty-minded, they certainly are not. They just move across the ridiculous spectrum quicker, and they cannot save America's polity or fiscal problems.
Of course Obama is a convenient scapegoat for all those naive people who think this tanker of a country can be turned on a dime after 8 long years of letting it go to hell. Meanwhile half of the government does nothing but keep it's head pressed into the sand, while the other wastes it's energy trying to lever it out – and all the while the MSM runs around chasing whatever bright shiny objects fly across it's field of vision – with little concern from anything in the way of real journalism and responsible reporting. Frankly I'm surprised that graph looks as good as it does.
The eternal cry of the Obama-ites – “It's not his fault!!!!”. Never mind TARP, bank bailouts, letting Pelosi and Reid take over the stimulus, AIG bonuses, giving GM to the UAW, lack of leadership on health care, inaccurate unemployment projections, escalating the war in Afghanistan, etc, etc.
Yes, Obama might have called the wrong fire statin and overpaid the chief, but he didn't set the building on fire and he didn't continue to pour gasoline on it. I know conservatives think one year is enough to clean up Bush's mess, but it isn't. They would love to put the 8 years of Bush behind them and just forget they voted for him…defended his administration, but we can't.
Reps set the country on fire and are now trying to block every attempt to put it out.
“Obama isn't using the right hoses. The fire trucks should be orange. And we refuse to help until until french poodle is replaced with an American Pitbull! USA! USA! USA!”
Meanwhile the country is still burning.
The corollary to the eternal cry of the Obama-ites – “Everything bad is Bush's fault!!!!”.
I'm pretty sure Obama doesn't care anymore about these interim polls. When he rams through the Public Option, just wait and look at that poll. The last one I saw for public approval of the Public Option ran around 77%.
My guess is that will play in his favor. Just a theory..
If those are the messages you take from a justifiable criticism then it's no wonder people are so confused. Nothing is that black and white, nor is anyone saying it is. Who is well served by the fabrication of a story depicting equal complicity and ignoring matters of degree, merely to spare partisan feelings?
TARP was actually a continuation from the previous administration, the bailouts would have happened under McCain, the stimulus would have been depicted as fascist if Obama had designed it, and Obama would have been a fascist peacenik if he hadn't escalated in Afghanistan. Also, he would have been depicted as fascist if he tried to dictate how the reform bill would look. A *fascist* fascist, even.
Because that's how Americans are these days. They honestly think they know the first thing about what fascism is as a quality and that their society is of a kind that even has the potential to turn towards fascism, and they love to whisper about fascist specters whether they are right- or left-wing.
The criticism of Obama would have been sympathetic if republicans bothered to evolve beyond the kind of bluehaired sycophants who let Bush destroy their country (and screw up two more barely up-screwable countries) for six years. But they are the exact same people, in tone, policies and attitude. They look like butthurt opportunist children who want to take revenge for their well-deserved spankings and want to hide their past.
This is why today's republicans must never be approached in good faith – their only reaction to criticism is to find a way to get around it long enough for them to wrap up the same old mulch in a prettier package. Extremely dangerous behavior.
If those are the messages you take from a justifiable criticism then it's no wonder people are so confused.
JSpencer your first statement was to say Obama was a scapegoat. That implies to me you think he is being criticized for things that aren't his fault.
I mentioned several specific actions of Obama that I disagree with, and the response has been to talk about Republicans. To make it clear I think the GOP has been a joke of a party for years, and Bush was a bad president. But that doesn't give Obama cover to make bad decisions and not be called on them.
As Axel points out when it comes to TARP Obama = Bush = McCain. That doesn't mean we can't be critical of Obama who, like Bush, failed to build adequate oversight into TARP.
Not everything, Clinton is also to blame. And really, I blame Cheney more than Bush….a true puppet master.
I blame Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton, and especially Ben Franklin. He palled around with those french you know.
I blame the low-information voters.
He palled around with those French you know.'
Ah, finally a voice of reason among the long-winded “experts” and royalists.
I think he wrote: An aspersion cast is an aspersion saved.
As an Indy voter and a voter who voted for Obama, though skeptically and at the very last minute, I realize I should have listened to my instincts about him.
Some observations: Obama is a limp noodle, it's difficult to discern what he himself really believes in and is willing to fight for, despite 2 years of telling the people what he supposedly believed in and what he was going to do. He did the opposite after taking office.
This supposed constitutional professor has a very bush-like record on civil liberties, doesn't really believe in the constitution and paid it much lip service for 2 years. You know, like saying “no one is above the law, but I will not hold anyone liable for possible criminal conduct while in office” sort of thing. Note: Obama has ordered American citizens in Yemen Assassinated(murdered). The evidence against them? Obama and his admin say they are terrorrists. That's the evidence!
Remember the thing about lobbyists not in charge of his white house? We know how that worked out didn't we? Can you say “health care reform”?
After being elected he brings in wall street, lil' timmy gietner and lars summers to “riegn in” wallstreet!WTF?!? He's still paying that lip service!
He is also very contradictory. He usually does differently than he says. Rule of law/vs protecting previous criminals sort of thing. Public option/vs I want the senate HCR bill passed W/out Public option sort of thing. In the campaign, he was against “Mandates” before he was for them after election. Closing Gitmo as opposed to let's leave Bagram and other foriegn prison's of ours open as a legal black hole. What sense does that make? Of course, he just wants to move gitmo to ILL. Just some examples.
A net gain of 4 points for Gallup and 13 points for Rasmussen.
Wait, isn't that the same Rasmussen that the liberals were making such a stink about and telling us can't be trusted and only delivers talking points for the Republican Party? Oh noes!!
lol
no matter really, the bounce is already fading. But there was definitely a bounce.
“The eternal cry of the Obama-ites”
Messianic infallability? Maybe, maybe not — some far lefty talkers are starting to second-guess him.
Obama is dropping like a log. But I wonder how he compares to Reagan:
http://www.pollster.com/blogs/obama_as_reagan.php
Reagan lost in 1982 Congressional elections, but how did he fair against Mondale…
There's more to this than some may first realize:
“Reagan lost in 1982 Congressional elections, but how did he fair against Mondale…”
It's too early to write off Obama completely, even though this first year has been mediocre. (It's also too early to expect him to win re-election.)
It is possible, though that if Obama the Dems may salvage themselves if they effectively do this next year what they should have done in the previous year, and more interesting, and relevent to the past, is the question of whether Obama will actually let Volcker take action this time beyond just bank reform, and if Volcker will do for a downturn that had deflationary characteristics, what he did when faced with inflation and a recession — ended a major problem, which was followed by recovery and even a boom.
That was around the nadir of the recession, made worse temporarily when Volker broke inflation's back.
http://reason.com/archives/2008/12/18/lessons-f…
http://www.carnegie-rochester.rochester.edu/Nov04-pdfs...
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,917…
https://www.nationalreview.com/nrof_bartlett/ba…
Maybe Volcker can do something equally good or contribute to a recovery this time.
As the first article also hints at, near the end, hopefully we won't be facing substantial inflation any time soon — for that's tempting for multiple reasons, especially if we stay in recession and as our debt and deficits grow. Hopefully Volcker will recall his earlier years and forestall the worst of it happening again if and while he can.