Democratic politics from the center
Poll
Personal Popularity vs. Job Approval
Feb 12th
So, as President Obama’s job approval slides, what becomes increasingly interesting is that his personal popularity remains relatively static in the high 50%. In viewing this apparent discrepancy, I think there are some strikingly important concepts and extrapolations that can be drawn.
First, it is that Obama’s job approval rating is in sliding not because Barack Obama’s policies are viewed as bad, but because of his inability to accomplish them in a timely manner. Obviously healthcare is the greatest example of this, where Obama allowed the Finance Committee to serve as his primary carrier in the Senate (in the hopes of getting a “bipartisan” bill). In so doing, he allowed Republicans to drag out the debate over such a long timeline that it has made healthcare legislation the longest single bill to exist on the floor of Congress. As FiveThirtyEight.com points out here, after each health reform passed each house of congress, there was a small bump in polls. I think the eventual analysis that Mr. Silver is right, if perhaps lacking in nuance. More >
Dissecting the NYT/CBS poll
Feb 12th
Obama's approval ratings
A new poll by the New York Times and CBS was made available yesterday. There weren’t major changes from past polls, but some results should be highlighted.
President Obama is still facing lower approval ratings despise recent changes by the White House. The president is still suffering from damages made by a year long fight over healthcare. He is also faced with 52% and 58% disapproval ratings when it comes to the economy and the budget.
The poll also shows that congress isn’t fairing much better. With a 75% overall disapproval rating and with 81% of respondents ready to see new people in office, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more incumbents lose their seats this fall.
The good new, however, is that the republican party still hasn’t been able to turn this situation to their benefit. Americans still believe that our current economic woes were caused by the previous administration and democrats are still viewed more favorably than republicans.
Right now the focus needs to be a on the economy and providing jobs. These two issues outrank anything else and I am glad that the administration has decided to highlight them.
Jump on over to the Times article for more details.