Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/6409721/Barack-Obama-sees-worst-poll-rating-drop-in-50-years.html" target="_blank">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...ars.html</a># >>Gallup recorded an average daily approval rating of 53 per cent for Mr Obama for the third quarter of the year, a sharp drop from the 62 per cent he recorded from April. His current approval rating – hovering just above the level that would make re-election an uphill struggle – is close to the bottom for newly-elected president. Mr Obama entered the White House with a soaring 78 per cent approval rating. The bad polling news came as Mr Obama returned to the campaign trail to prevent his Democratic party losing two governorships next month in states in which he defeated Senator John McCain in last November's election. Jeffrey Jones of Gallup explained: "The dominant political focus for Obama in the third quarter was the push for health care reform, including his nationally televised address to Congress in early September. "Obama hoped that Congress would vote on health care legislation before its August recess, but that goal was missed, and some members of Congress faced angry constituents at town hall meetings to discuss health care reform. Meanwhile, unemployment continued to climb near 10 per cent." Governor Jon Corzine of New Jersey is in severe danger of defeat while Democrats are fast losing hope that Creigh Deeds can beat his Republican opponent in Virginia. Twin Democratic losses would be a major blow to Mr Obama's prestige.<<
Originally Posted By Mr X Another cut and paste with no comment by the OP. Isn't this considered spamming the forum?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Of course Obama suffered a great drop. He started out far higher than most presidents so he had a longer ways to fall. He is AHEAD of where Bill Clinton was in the third quarter of the first year and only slightly behind (I think it was 4 points) where Reagan was in his third quarter. Those two presidents ended up being the most popular presidents in my lifetime. Where do you think Dubya would have been if not for 9/11??
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Originally Posted By TomSawyer Road Trip has it right. Darkbeer's numbers are meaningless without the baseline, and the baseline is that Obama had the highest approval rating of any president at the start of his administration since Carter.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***the baseline is that Obama had the highest approval rating of any president at the start of his administration since Carter*** I hope that's not a bad sign.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer It's actually interesting to look at the old approval ratings. Before Reagan it seemed like new presidents enjoyed approval ratings in the 70s, even Ford. After Reagan presidents started their terms off around 55 or so (with the exception of Clinton).
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy I have to wonder, what constitutes the "worst" poll drop rating in 50 years? Reagan went from 68 percent to 35 percent in the first 2 years of his term (also during a severe economic recession). In terms of magnitude, that would be worse that a drop from 78 to 53 percent. During the election, I figured that it would be nearly impossible for either of the candidates to survive a 4-year term as president considering the extreme problems being passed on from the previous administration. The magnitude of the economic situation is not likely to correct itself in 4 years, and the blame for Obama will only continue to increase regardless of what he does to fix the problems. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to roll on with casualties after 8 years, they will also weigh heavy on the population's perceptions of the president. It doesn't matter who that president it. I just hope that the Democrats wake up and pass some meaningful legislation in the next 12 months before the nation flip flops and puts conservatives back in office. Health care reform, financial industry reform, climate change, ending DADT and DOMA, and a host of other important issues need to be addressed soon before the destructive conservative forces get back into government again for their next round of ruining America.
Originally Posted By DAR I wonder what congress is pulling in these days, that's gotten kind of quiet.
Originally Posted By Mr X Much lower than the President, and the Republican Congressmembers are much lower still overall.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt I suspect that Obama's ratings will climb significantly if a meaningful health care reform bill is passed.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy ^^ I suspect that the numbers will follow the unemployment trend. If jobs start to come back, so will the ratings. If you look at all the past ratings for presidents since they started this sort of polling, they almost invariably follow economic trends.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>I suspect that Obama's ratings will climb significantly if a meaningful health care reform bill is passed.<< Perhaps in the short-term. But remember, most of the big healthcare reforms, even if it does pass, don't take effect for three years. I remember when we used to be a great nation and could actually, you know, get stuff done. We defeated the Germans and the Japanese. We innovated along the way. We landed on the moon. We gave medicare and social security to the elderly. Now we can't seem to do much of anything. Even any climate change bills don't take effect for some time. Congress just mandated that cars get 30 miles to the gallon by 2016. 30 miles to the gallon! Dream big, guys! I just hope the auto industry will be able to manufacture this miracle car of the future that will get 30 miles to the gallon.
Originally Posted By mawnck Yes I KNOW I'm posting too much stuff from these guys, but they keep posting these perfectly-on-point articles! >>A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll shows that the Republican Party's favorability rating is the lowest since the height of its efforts to impeach former President Bill Clinton. Only 36 percent of polled voters said that they had a positive view of the Republican Party, the lowest that has been registered by CNN since December 1998 (when the party had a 31 percent favorable rating). The GOP also had a 36 percent favorable rating in June 2007 -- the waning months of the Bush administration. The decade-long low for the GOP certainly challenges the conventional wisdom that the party stands in strong position to make major gains in the upcoming congressional elections.<< >>The CNN poll showed that 53 percent of the public currently has a positive view of the Democratic Party<< <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/23/gop-favorable-rating-the_n_331799.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...799.html</a>
Originally Posted By skinnerbox China will be eating our lunch before the 2016 election. They will virtually own solar and wind technologies, and we'll be left holding the bag thanks to the oil/gas/coal oligarchy that has our nation by the balls. Corporations do not want competition from anyone, especially smaller startups, and will continue to pump hundreds of millions of lobbyist dollars into our government to keep the status quo. The rest of the planet is leaving us in the dust, and we don't have time to waste. New CAFE standards by 2016? That's too late. We should have had them 20 years ago. If we don't shift gears soon and reclaim our manufacturing heritage that's been offshored to other countries, we'll head down the same path as Britain. America is losing its legacy as an innovator in technology and will soon be the leader in nothing but unethical financial practices.
Originally Posted By DAR <<the lowest that has been registered by CNN since December 1998 (when the party had a 31 percent favorable rating)>> So it took only three years to get a Republican back in the White House.
