Has anyone else noticed that Barack Obama seems to be in non-stop campaign mode ? He's on television almost daily trying to sell his ideas to the public. Here are some possible reasons why.
The following Rasmussen poll chart shows how President Obama's approval numbers have steadily weakened since his inauguration. Currently, 37% strongly approve of Obama's job performance, and 30% strongly disapprove.
Overall, 58% of those polled at least somewhat approved of Obama. That number has also dropped since inauguration day.
In addition, Rassmussen's generic congressional ballot polling found that on 3/15/09, Republicans outpolled Democrats, 41% to 39%. That's the first time that has occurred in recent years. In 2007, voters preferred Democrats by 10-12 points. In 2008, Democrats were favored by 5-8 points. Now that gap has narrowed considerably. Since the beginning of february, Democrats have usually led by only 2-3 points, with the Republicans winning two weeks ago.
Other polling numbers of interest:
- Only 18% think Congress is doing an excellent/good job (what are those 18% thinking ?)
- 59% think the USA is on the wrong track
- 58% think politics has become more partisan
- Only 35% think Obama is governing on a bipartisan basis
- Only 24% think Republicans are acting in a bipartisan fashion
- Only 20% think Democrats are acting in a bipartisan fashion
Now let's look at issues from a populist viewpoint:
- Only 11% think the government is doing enough to secure the border
- 51% think tax increases hurt the economy
- 63% think tax cuts help the economy
- 52% think they pay more than their fair share of taxes
- 51% think USA is winning the war on terror
- 51% think USA is safer than before 9/11
- 58% want the troops home within a year
- 79% think the economy is in a recession (what do the other 21% think ?)
- 51% think Obama is excellent/good on energy (I bet they won't when their energy bills go through the roof)
- 48% think Obama is excellent/good on foreign policy
- 48% think Obama is excellent/good on the economy (who are THESE people ??? We can't have THAT many socialists in this country)
- 63% think Obama will have the troops home by the end of his first term (in spite of the fact that Obama himself has said he wouldn't have the troops home. He's ramping up Afganistan and said he'd leave 50,000 troops in Iraq. Okay, now I'm starting to get the 48% who think Obama is good on the economy. They aren't paying attention. They're playing Nintendo instead).
- 68% think Obama will cause government spending to go up (again, what in the heck are the other 32% thinking ? They're playing Grand Theft Auto III. This poll number should be 100%).
These issues polls mostly confirm that we have a center-right country from an ideological standpoint. And an uninformed country regarding Obama's policies. In spite of the fact that the country is center-right, the foulups of the Bush administration handed the reins of power back over to the Democrats. And in spite of that, the way the Dems and Obama are going, and the way the polls are trending, if I was a Republican, I'd be feeling pretty good about my chances of increasing my party's power in 2010 and 2012 (especially if The One adds another $4-5 trillion to the debt in one term). The downside for Republicans is, the economy will probably recover before 2012, and Obama will get credit, even if he doesn't deserve any, and even if he is making things far worse over the long run.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
People are realizing that he didn't have a plan that would work from the start. The way he is going about this is like he is making stuff up as he goes. He is a cordial guy, very pleasant but other leaders are going to begin seeing him as weak, like they did Carter. He cannot continue to break promises or halfa** the promises that he does keep or double speak, people aer to smart for that now. A mans' word must be his bond. His probably is, he is just in over his head due to lack of experience.
Did anyone really think that a simple Chicago community activist could do any better? Take away this guy's teleprompter, and he is nothing more than stuffed suit.
Personally, I don't know of a single person who longs for the days when George was president.
Rasmussen is the outlier of the polls. 62%-64% is the average of Obama's popularity.
The Congressional numbers you show here are even more deceptive. Republicans are coming in at 20 something percent, while Democrats are approaching 50%.
If conservatives need their own phony numbers to boost their dying hopes…..I guess that's alright. But they're still phony.
Obama down from 78% I would call that a reduction in his popularity.
Rev,
Your response is predictable, but I keep getting the feeling you aren't really reading the information I'm presenting.
RealClearPolitics, who uses the averages of all polls, has Obama at 60% approval. Rasmussen has him at 58%. That's hardly an outlier. It's within the margin of error.
In the last presidential election, Rassmussen had it going 52%-46% for Obama. the final results were 53-46% for Obama. Yeah, those crazy Rasmussen guys are totally out to lunch.
You're a trip, Rev.