Gallup Daily: Obama Job Approval Up to 65%

[JamesA1102]

I guess Frank Rich and the rest of our millionaire pundits got it all wrong.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/113980/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Job-Approval.aspx

[Phx_Dem]

1. And that poll was taken before 60 min. and Tuesday's address.

I'm guessing those numbers will tick up a notch or two by week's end.

[Parker CA]

6. I agree, and said in a thread yesterday that I bet he's at 66%-68% by the end of next week.

Based on 65% today, those numbers may end up even higher, but have no doubt the GOP and naysayers will push hard on some other lead to bring him back down. Great to see the surge amidst so much criticism.

[CTyankee]

21. Bet we don't hear that number on Mornin Joe tomorrow!

They're probably scrambling around trying like crazy to find a criticism to dampen the public's obvious liking for Obama.

Oh, well, maybe they can go back to Michelle's bare arms...

[Parker CA]

Or they will counter it with Rassmussen who has the number at 56%. Such BS.

[CTyankee]

24. Yeah, forgot about Rasmussen. They'll just go with that and ignore the other poll. nt

[JamesA1102]

28. Yes Joe and Mika love to cherry pick polls nt

[Uzybone]

2. SWEEEEETTTTT

[firedupdem]

3. Excellent! n/t

[azmouse]

4. You wouldn't guess his approval was that high based on DU.

*sigh* It's sad around here.

I think this President is doing his best to clean up all the shit boosh left behind.
He has my full support.

[Top Cat]

7. Kick.... To much Obama bashing these days on DU. The support is divided more in the last few weeks

[stillcool]

11. He wouldn't have won..

either the primary or the general election here on DU, or according to the media. Sometimes there is no difference between the two.

[MindMatter]

17. DU is months ahead of the public

The concerns being expressed here are very real and very well justified.

Most people understand that the reality of politics is that you have to chart a pragmatic course most of the time, I think most people can accept that. But Obama fundamentally is missing just how pissed off people are about AIG and the whole mess. His problem is that it is no longer "the problem he inherited from Bush". Obama has put a guy in charge who hasn't changed one damn thing from the Paulsen position. No coincidence that they both came from Goldman Sachs.

[azmouse]

23. Oh for pete's sake... Give the man a chance to fix the problems.

Real concerns... maybe. But there is no way in heaven or hell Obama could fix everything in 2 months. I don't expect perfection (and I'm sure you would say you do not either), just progress in the right direction.

Frankly, I don't give a rat's ass about AIG bonuses except as a sign of the overall greed that ran rampant in the boosh years.
The actual amount of the bonus is less than a drop in the ocean. It's time now to focus on the people who are in need and get them help.

[MindMatter]

27. I don't expect a fix in 2 months.

I do expect the TRAJECTORY to change, and I'm not seeing that. I hear some populist talk, but the actions re: Wall Street are really no different from the Bush program.

I give him credit for the priorities in the stimulus package. That is clearly different from Bush. But by letting Wall Street continue to run wild with absolutely no consequences, he is not only setting up for a continued failure, but he is also pissing away the resources we need in the non-robber-baron part of our economy.

[BlooInBloo]

52. Pick a time and make a prediction NOW, then.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

5. With all due respect to Rich, I guess President Obama's "Katrina Moment" hasn't arrived quite yet.

:eyes:

It probably would take a clusterf**k of Bushian proportions for him to have a "Katrina moment" IMHO. At the moment, I can't possibly imagine how/when/why THAT might happen. :shrug:

[eleny]

12. I was concerned that Dems in Congress were having their "Terri Schiavo" moment

Rich missed the boat last week. I'm glad for that small favor because in the end he shot himself in the foot, imo.

[MindMatter]

16. There is a fatigue factor in all of these things.

Bush's "Katrina moment" wasn't fully realized for months. At the time of the disaster, te public was mostly focused on the death and destruction and Brownie and company were a secondary issue.

It BECAME Bush's "Katrina moment" as it became clear to the public just how incompetent these people were.

In the case of Obama and the AIG problem, it is not a question of competence. It is a question of who he's working for, and that can actually be a lot worse than questioning his competence. It is becoming pretty clear that the Obama team is just as closely tied to Goldman Sachs as the Bush team and we're hearing the same kind of empty rhetoric out of Obama that we heard from Bush.

Basically the bankers are still in control of everything including the President.

I certainly don't wish to see this be the incident that destroys a Presidency that otherwise shows promise. But he can't sell us out without consequences.

And before anybody jumps down my throat as an Obama hater, I worked many many hours to get him elected, just as many of you did. That's why this sense of betrayal is so strong.

[Phx_Dem]

8. Someone needs to alert poor clueless Howie Kurtz, who

was busy this morning trying to figure out if the Leno appearance hurt the President.

It's called the Internets, Howie. Use it.

[Cha]

9. Here's the addy for Kurtz..

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/howard+kurtz/

[ErinBerin84]

10. Howard Kurtz is a buffoon

I hardly ever agree with what he says.


(not to say that Obama didn't have a rough week and shouldn't get criticized, but Howard's criticism is usually way off. And we shouldn't use his approval ratings as TOO much of an indicator -Bush often had approval ratings when he didn't deserve them-, but about Kurtz.How the hell did that buffoon become a media critic? I wonder if he criticized Brit Hume, who Kurtz had previously claimed was non-partisan, for admitting he took talking points from a rabid RW site this week? I doubt it. Kurtz also compplained a couple weeks ago about Vogue writing a puff piece on Michelle Obama).

[MindMatter]

13. The American people suck

He goes on Leno and they love him. He sells us out on AIG and the rest of the bailout and they don't even notice.

[VampyreHunter]

14. Good for Obama.

Good to her Obama is doing well.

[jefferson_dem]

15. Indeed it is.

And a big welcome to DU! :hi:

[Median Democrat]

18. Perhaps Because Obama is trying something novel, talking directly to voters

We spent four years of listening to Bush surrogates who gave off the record remarks that it is earth shattering to have a President actually subjecting himself to questions.

[WeDidIt]

19. Galup obviously hasn't polled any DUers

I think his approval is lower than *'s was around here based upon the slam threads.

[Political Heretic]

31. I don't think you get it.

If you throw a poll up on DU, its going to have Obama with huge approval numbers.

Why?

Because people like me, who refuse to have our criticisms shut down by people like you, would still be voting in support of the President. Criticism is healthy. Its our responsibility in a representative democracy. Nothing valuable comes from simply being a "cheerleader." I think the Obama administration is making some big mistakes in their approach to wall street, but that doesn't change the fact that overall I approve of the adminstration and of course I support them.

I think most "critics" here feel the same. But if you disagree - throw a poll up and see what happens.

[opihimoimoi]

20. President Obama uses TRUTH REASON and SANITY when communicating..the Pubs use BS

Therein is the diff...annnnd....President Obama has a LOCK on TR&S....

The Pubs Philosophy does not include Truth nor Reason...never mind Sanity...they be locked into Deception and Prevarication.....

[Tarheel_Dem]

22. Never fear, there are Democrats, at this very moment, on this very board,

who are working overtime to tamp down those numbers. They're not happy when the GOP is in charge, and they're just as unhappy when the Dems are in charge. Go figure.....

[Clio the Leo]

25. Darn that AIG mess, otherwise he'd be at 80%! :-)

So much for the "Obama admin. had a bad week" meme.

You certainly woulnd't know it by listening to those outside of the beltway.

[Bjorn Against]

26. I am among the 65%, but I also agree with Frank Rich's column.

It is not the case that 65% agree with every last thing Obama does, we can be extremely upset about somethings and still approve of his performance in general.

[JamesA1102]

29. But why blame Obama?

The AIG bailout happened under Bush. Paulson gave them the money and didn't object to the bonuses then. When regulations limiting executive compenstation were suggested several weeks ago it was GOP congressional leaders like Mitch McConnell who spoke out most forcefully against it.

[w4rma]

32. Because he hired a bunch of Wall Street shills who are bailing out shareholders and bondholders

instead of bailing out taxpayers and Main Street.

[JamesA1102]

34. Isn't that a bit of a snap judgement?

They've only been in office for two months. The TARP was passed under Bush so legally those funds can only go to the banks. Everything Obama has passed (like the stimulus bill) or proposed (like the budget) addresses the problems of Main Street and spends the money there.

[Political Heretic]

33. Because he appointed a bunch of corporatist "pro-business pragamtists" as his economic team

And now we are seeing the results of those choices.

If someone polled me on Obama approval, I'd say I approve of the Obama presidency. But I am thoroughly disappointed in his choices and handling so far of the economic situation. I still reserve some judgment on that front as well - but so far, not happy.

On the other hand, I am very happy about other things. Presidencies (er...sp?) are complex.

[JamesA1102]

36. What has he passed or proposed that you object to?

And what results are you refering to? They've only been in office for two months. The Treasury department isn't even fully staffed yet.

[Political Heretic]

45. Where did I use the word results?

I said that I reserve some judgment but so far I'm not happy with the handling of wall street and the economic crisis. What am I not happy about? I'm pretty sure I stated that quite clearly. I'm not happy with his selection of pro-business pragmatists to fill key cabinet and advisory positions. I am not a fan of how TARP money has been spent by either this or the previous administration, I'm not happy that the main theme of crisis proposals, including what has leaked about the new bank bailout proposal, continues to be that the core institutions and players are fine, and that we really just have sort of a bump in the road problem (i.e. we have a liquidity problem only, and not key, critical flaws in the very structure of our institutions.)

As I said, I reserve some judgment because we still have a lot to see and a long way to go, and we're only two months in. But SO FAR, as I stipulated in my previous post, I'm not happy about some of the things I've seen on this specific front, and it makes me wary about the future.

There's nothing wrong with me saying this.

[JamesA1102]

46. Yes you did.

You used the word results in your first post and now you are backpeddleing because you don't have an answer to my question.

And there is nothing wrong with me pointing that out.

[Political Heretic]

53. Oh you're right I did. I am blind.

No, I'm not backpeddling... I'm just blind. :)

I didn't remember using the word results, so I went back and now I remember the context.

Yes, now we're seeing the results of what I consider to be bad team picks. Those results are: in my opinion, BAD policy decisions when it comes to handling the economic crisis.

I'm more than happy to stand by that.

[JamesA1102]

55. I ask again, what results are you refering to? nt

[Bjorn Against]

35. Obama is the one in charge now...

Believe me I know that Bush bears far more responsibility for this mess than Obama does, but the fact is that even if the bank bailout happened under Bush's watch it was still supported by Obama. Obama voted for handing over hundreds of billions of dollars to the banks without hardly any accountability, we are not seeing Obama crack down on corporate crime, and we are seeing him appoint people like Geithner and Summers who are part of the same Wall Street crowd that got us into this mess.

There are many issues that I support Obama on, but there are some big things I will criticize him on as well. For the OP to claim that a poll number proves Frank Rich wrong is a ridiculous assertion, you don't judge a person's argument on the basis of an opinion poll.

[JamesA1102]

37. Rich uses the analogy of Katrina

which was when the people judged Bush to be out of touch and his approval numbers started dropping. But Obama's poll numbers are not dropping, they are going up which directly refutes the core of Rich's argument.

[Bjorn Against]

39. You need to look at that analogy in the context of the article...

What Rich said is this: "It would be foolish to dismiss as hyperbole the stark warning delivered by Paulette Altmaier of Cupertino, Calif., in a letter to the editor published by The Times last week: 'President Obama may not realize it yet, but his Katrina moment has arrived.'"

Notice those words that I bolded and it is clear that Rich is not saying that the consequences of the Katrina moment have hit yet, but that once the current economic disaster really hits people he may pay a political price at that time.

[JamesA1102]

42. Really?

"once the current economic disaster really hits people he may pay a political price at that time."

Well this poll would seem to refute that:

"If the economy does not improve over the next 12 months whose policies would you blame for that: the policies of George W. Bush and the Republicans, or the policies of Barack Obama and the Democrats?"

Bush and the Republicans: 54%

Obama and the Democrats: 32%

http://www.pollingreport.com/obama_ad.htm

The problem with Rich and most of the chattering class is that they all live in a little bubble and don't know how real people think or what their concerns are.

[Bjorn Against]

44. The problem with that poll is that you can't look at this situation as an either or question.

Yes Bush did worse than Obama did, but that doesn't mean Obama is without blame. There is a lot of blame to go around and you can expect that most Americans are going to be pointing their fingers at many different people. Obama will not get nor does he deserve all of the blame, but he is likely to receive a good deal of it and I am sure he will even be forced to admit that he made some mistakes.

[JamesA1102]

47. But he has admitted mistakes

and taken responsibility. Something Bush never did. Part of the reason people lost faith in Bush after Katrina is that Bush never was willing to admit that he had made any mistakes. That's when people stop believing what he had to say. Obama hasn't done that. He's done exactly the opposite.

And as far as who is more in touch with concerns of the the people, I'll put my money on Obama. Rich has been living in his upper class pundit bubble for 20 years now, Obama has not.

[cadmium]

40. Rich should apologize. Katrina was a tragedy. n/t

[Political Heretic]

30. This is good news - I think only good things come from such high approval ratings for our president.

Admittedly its possible that high approval ratings could cause the administration to become more mellow and less bold in its initiatives. But I also think the opposite is possible, that huge public support gives them great power to push through a lot of positive legislation.

I'm still very uncomfortable with the approach being taken to the economic crisis, but I couldn't be happier with the administrations domestic spending priorities. AAR was a beautiful bill that managed to come through the brutal congressional process and still look like a beautiful bill. This budget is the most progressive one we've seen in ages, with spending priorities right where we need them.

My two current missions are to do whatever I can to help get that budget passed and then to do whatever I can to ensure that EFCA is a priority, that it gets passed, and that it isn't ruined by compromise.

[cadmium]

38. Screw the elite pundits. The people elected Obama n/t

[and-justice-for-all]

41. I would then guess to say that it is actually silghtly higher...70% at the least. nt

[tritsofme]

43. So does that mean Gallup is off the naughty pollster list?

Or is it now in vogue to hope to see sagging popularity for the President?

I love how DUers only like pollsters that confirm their own views, and that everyone else is a fraud.

[Teaser]

50. Gallup was always ok.

they are simply one data point, but trends are trends and bear watching.

[Jennicut]

51. Polls are not the be all and end all

but Gallup has tracked approval ratings for Presidents for years so we can compare where other Presidents were on that same scale. Obama has a higher approval rating then both Bushes, Reagan and Clinton at this point in time. That means something to me.

[usregimechange]

48. kick

[BlooInBloo]

49. Obama has no friends among any of: the left, the right, or the villagers...

But the American people still dig him.

[Dawgs]

54. Impossible!! Conservative co-worker just told me that "black people" are regretting their vote.

:eyes: