The Official Obama Approval Ratings Thread

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Gallup Daily:  http://www.gallup.com/poll/124922/Presidential-Job-Approval-Center.aspx

Approve:  41%, -2.

Disapprove:  51%, +2.

If consistent, it is getting close to that point of no return.

But with Gallup - nothing is consistent

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Yeah... a 7% swing in a day shows a really reliable polling system, lol

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

lol Gallup

People were just praising it when Obama was up.

But, as I say:  If you don't like the Gallup numbers, just wait a few days. 

The Gallup weekly numbers are more important and they are more important for historical comparison.

I ignore Gallup, and have done since they recorded a swing of something like 16% in a week... which, without extraordinary events, is just rubbish...

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I ignore Gallup, and have done since they recorded a swing of something like 16% in a week... which, without extraordinary events, is just rubbish...

It has not been that high, but there is a lot of instability in its daily numbers.  The total range in its weekly numbers has been six points over the last six months; that is not a huge swing.

I like Gallup because it has a long historic record that is useful for comparison.  I prefer the Rasmussen daily numbers (which is ironic since Obama is up with the 'bots today).

Not what I mean, I'm talking about the back and forward over the course of the week... and that has been excess of 10% many times.

It might be useful for comparison, I just find it too unstable to be a reliable indicator.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Did anyone see the entusiasm numbers. Democrats who are enthusiastic are at 44% and Republicans at 53%. This tells me that the Democrats are way over confident in winning this fall. Gas prices seem to have him down to 48% approval rating as well.

From a purely objective position, the Dems aren't as enthusiastic because unlike the GOP they aren't being fired up by a primary race.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Today's Gallup:

Obama Approval
48% (+4)
Obama Disapproval
44% (-3)

http://www.gallup.com/poll/124922/Presidential-Job-Approval-Center.aspx

It's Gallup daily results; don't worry, it will change soon.

I do find it kind of amusing, you rarely comment when he spikes upwards... but always the doom-sayer when he drops...

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Rasmussen Obama (National)

Approve 47%, +3.

Disapprove 52%, -2.

"Strongly Approve" is at 26%, -1.  "Strongly Disapprove" is at  42%, -2.

Probably a bad sample.

Or the previous bad sample dropping out...?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

That response is like a mysterious car crash ...

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Oh, I understand Obama's campaign strategy now. Be SO bad and set the bar SO low that bad news is good news and Americans start to accept a new normal. Bravo, Mr. President--you will destroy the country.

You really live in a strange little world...

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Sure. And this strange little world looks a lot like Earth, 2012. Where Obama has nothing to show for three and a half years in office but Americans still love the guy. It is pretty strange, isn't it?

4.5 million private sector jobs created? The unemployment rate would be a full % lower were it not for the states going all European austerity on their workforces?

A better job creation rate than Bush, who squandered surpluses and the ultimate example that tax cuts don't pay for themselves?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Romney needed a great summer (ie, horrible for everyone else) to make in-roads. The undecideds in this race are too low to wait until the last few weeks. He needed to define himself early, but he spent that time sucking up to the extreme right-wing and now he's suffering the consequences.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I highly doubt just this debate will cause Romney to lead. But if this becomes a pattern, and the people think Obama has nothing new to offer them while Romney keeps playing to the middle, watch out.

The most effective thing Mittens said in my mind, with the voters who will decide the election, is that he worked for bipartisan consensus with Romneycare, and Obama didn't with Obamacare, and that approach can bear poison fruit. All major pieces of social legislation in the past have had important bipartisan support - all of them. And yes, Mittens is playing the middle hard now. It must be a relief for him that the primaries are over. That period was absolutely horrible.

I thought that entire discussion was awful... It's difficult to be bipartisan when the other side refuses to do anything other than what they want.

Kind of the same as in MA, Romney's point about working with democrats was silly, because he didn't have a choice. they could have overrun his veto, and this this was before the gop went into the psychiatric ward, and being seen as a 'concilliator' was going to be a plus. but in reality, he was bent over a barrell.

I'm startled he didn't attack congress, not even a little...

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I highly doubt just this debate will cause Romney to lead. But if this becomes a pattern, and the people think Obama has nothing new to offer them while Romney keeps playing to the middle, watch out.

The most effective thing Mittens said in my mind, with the voters who will decide the election, is that he worked for bipartisan consensus with Romneycare, and Obama didn't with Obamacare, and that approach can bear poison fruit. All major pieces of social legislation in the past have had important bipartisan support - all of them. And yes, Mittens is playing the middle hard now. It must be a relief for him that the primaries are over. That period was absolutely horrible.

Of course Obama's response should be that no Republican wanted to play ball with him, but he wasn't able to make that argument at all during the debate. He has an even better case with the debt debacle of a couple years back (when Nancy was not calling the shots), and he failed there as well. Truman won by running against an obstructionist congress, Obama must do the same.

Well actually Obama didn't play much ball with the Pubs on Obamacare at all, walked out on Boehner because he could not even suck up using the chained CPI for SS payment adjustments, ignored Simpson Bowles, that had a bipartisan majority in support of something, and indeed does not talk much to anybody. Dems in Congress bitch all the time what a loner and unapproachable Obama is.  I suspect he holds most of the political class in contempt. That is my honest opinion.

Obama has his talents. Being a consensus builder, and finding the middle, is not one of them however. It is just not within him. Mittens should play this card hard from now until the election. His base will have to suck it up.

Alright... i'm asking a serious question, since i respect you and unlike JJ you've haven't turned into a hack.

do you genuinely believe that this congress, especially with McConnell and the TP caucus.... that anything even close to a compromise could have been reached?

Every reasonable GOPer was terrified of being primaried...

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

That's not how I remembered things going... but eh...

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

So it would have been better for Obama to waste this whole term trying to schmooze Pubbies who wouldn't have supported it anyway... or try to get something to done to address the problem.

Can you name one GOP who would have been confident enough to support ANYTHING Obama did? This is the party that thinks Dick Lugar and Bob Bennett (and tried hard against Orin Hatch and John McCain) aren't conservative enough....

You can make the argument Obama didn't try hard enough... but I disagree strongly that the outcome would have been anything different than him having to go alone..

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I'm not putting any judgement on it, but I find it interesting that you have 4% swing in 24-48 hours, yet Obama's approval remains at 50...

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Well technically 'ephemeral' doesn't mean just one day... it means a short period of time... or probably 'transitory' is a better description...

But that's by the by...

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Well technically 'ephemeral' doesn't mean just one day... it means a short period of time... or probably 'transitory' is a better description...

But that's by the by...

"Transitory" implies a transition, or at least can be readily confused with that.  "Ephemeral" implies a temporary condition that will revert back to the status quo in a short period of time.

Which, depending on who you listen to, this MIGHT have been... but I doubt we'll know until the weekend. The blessings of multi-day polls...