The Official Obama Approval Ratings Thread

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4. Jimmy Carter.  The weak challenger to Gerald Ford. He accomplished little as President because he was always an outsider who tried to bring Atlanta ways to Washington.  He lost to someone who exuded confidence in his own abilities and presented himself as more moderate than his early reputation.

Obama was and remains very much a political insider, and his political skills look more like those of Ronald Reagan. He has not tried to impose Chicago political ways upon Washington. Carter doesn't look like much of a comparison to Obama.

Jimmy Carter was a member of the Trilateral Commission, who had strong DC connections and populated the Executive Branch with old LBJ supporters.  Further, he ran one of the best Democratic campaigns in decades in 1976.

Yet he still refused to play by Congress' rules, which is part of the reason he had so much trouble with his agenda.

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I think that Americans are getting disgusted with politics of all kinds -- conservative, liberal, and Hard Right. Maybe politics can't deliver prosperity, but as the previous Administration proves, they can surely bring ruin.

If this isn't simply the news cycle, then we are in for some real ugliness in political life -- ugliness unprecedented in severity since the Civil War and in style in this country.

One of the major problem is that the majority is shifting and Obama is left (out to the left).

It is possibly a sign of a realignment (to the right).

Obama is less left-wing on economic issues than Nixon.

30 years of the Age of Reagan has really distorted the political landscape. What was once far-right is now moderate, what was once center-right is now center-left, etc.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Obama is less left-wing on economic issues than Nixon.

30 years of the Age of Reagan has really distorted the political landscape. What was once far-right is now moderate, what was once center-right is now center-left, etc.

No nominee for president since 1984 was to the left of the GOP nominee in 1976.  The reason?  We had a re-alignment centering on 1980 (1978-84).  It moved the county to the right.

This one, if it is happening, might move the county very far to the right.

If we move much further to the right we might as well have a fascist country.

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Isn't a populist the exact opposite of a libertarian?

No, an authoritarian collectivist is the exact opposite of a libertarian. A populist is the opposite of an elitist.

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Question: Does anyone else suppose that Oregon has a lower current approval rating of Obama than Washington and California because he's not liberal enough for them?

I know that many Democrats and liberals are angry or otherwise frustrated with Obama.

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Also, Obama's been down recently in Gallup.  Not as bad as late last year, but he's back to 46% on a weekly poll for the first time since 2010.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/146522/Obama-Weekly-Job-Approval-Retreats.aspx

Though this seems to be mostly from non-whites (as he's gone from 89% to 81% among Blacks, and 64% to 51% among Hispanics), and Liberals (77% to 71%).

Well, Obama's base in 2008 was non-whites and liberals. Perhaps this shows that his policies (and those of the bipartisan Congress) anger his base more than they anger moderates.   

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Rasmussen Obama (National)

Approve 44, -1.

Disapprove 55%, +1.

"Strongly Approve" is at 25%, u.  "Strongly Disapprove" is at 43%, +1.


Obama is not winning the budget battle, though he's not exactly losing it either.

I wonder how the approval ratings of Congress, specifically the House, compare.

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Not great approval, but the Republicans are doing badly in Iowa.

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These are quite interesting poll results..... I have a feeling now that even if unemployment is hovering around 9%, Obama will win in 2012 unless the Republicans nominate someone of caliber, which they refuse to do. I think it will take Europe imploding before the 2012 election for Obama to lose, and even then I think he would have a good chance if he can deflect the blame of the sh**tty economy on to the Europeans and off of him.

The "blame Europe first" strategy?

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Rasmussen Obama (National)

Approve 45, +1.

Disapprove 54%, -1.

"Strongly Approve" is at 19%, u.  "Strongly Disapprove" is at 41%, u.

I guess around 20% of Americans will disapprove of Obama instinctively (just as they approved of Bush til the bitter end..) and 20% are pretty much committed to him (or are Democratic partisans).

That leaves 20% of people who are right of center, more likely to  disapprove but possible to win over; 20% of people who are left of center, who approve of Obama generally; and 20% who are really centrist swing voters.

Right now, Obama is not doing too well with the center, and certainly not well with  the  center-right. We'll see what happens in a year, though.