ATLANTA— The RealClearPolitics poll of polls shows Barack Obama’s popularity and approval ratings rapidly declining over his first 7 months in office. We have been predicting this inevitability since long before the election last November. The issues facing our nation are too great and Mr. Obama was ill-equipped to handle them.
Mr. Obama has made some really severe errors in judgment by pursuing massive spending and tax increases in a time of record deficits and poor economic growth and by outsourcing to Congress key policy initiatives, such as health-care. He has completely misinterpreted his mandate by taking us too far to the left in his time in office. And he has completely misunderstood the political make-up of his own party, by failing to anticipate the resistance to the “public option” among the Democratic moderates and conservatives.
I have long believed that Mr. Obama in particular would have a hard time coming back from a deep drop in his polling numbers. He is an unusual and controversial figure that few people knew before 2007. His popularity was based on esoteric ideals (hope, change) and a very positively spun image that seemed transcendent. He attracted people by promising to be someone he was not- namely, a centrist moderate.
The highly partisan and rancorous debate over policy that has since occurred after Mr. Obama took office seems to have destroyed this image. This is not the change we were promised. Now we are left with a guy who looks like a poser and who remains unusual and controversial.
I think the magic is gone for Mr. Obama. The perception I have had in these last few weeks is that Mr. Obama seems surprisingly small in this debate over health-care. Whereas his agenda seemed insurmountable and unstoppable a few months ago, on the basis of his “wild” popularity, its seems hobbled and weak now, with cap-and-trade stalled in the Senate and health-care mired in fratricidal debate within his own party.
Mr. Obama’s war in Afghanistan is going particularly bad- and once people begin taking more notice of that, I expect the disapproval to go even higher. I still support his efforts there as I think that war is important. But I acknowledge I’m in a minority in this respect.
I don’t think Mr. Obama is going to make a comeback anytime soon in terms of his polls. The economy is going to have to roar back to life, employment is going to have to increase and interest rates and inflation are going to have to remain low in order for people’s moods to turn.
Based on the sum total of his economic policies, I just do not see this happening…
TennesseePaul
Stephen VanNuys
Brooklyn Daniel
The Freedom Thinker
You have pretty well nailed it. Obama is possibly the most ill-prepared resident of the Oval Office that America has ever had and this is a very poor time to have as President someone who can best be characterized as vain, foolish and weak.
I am scarcely surprised at this poor showing. Anyone who took the time to look closely at Obama’s life and political history could easily have predicted the true crisis of lack of leadership, corruption and incompetence that our nation now is stuck with for nearly four years.
At best, we have a socialist, mired in his own ideology. At worst, a communist determined to destroy the U.S. economy so that he can impose tyranny. Glenn Beck was courageous enough, during a recent interview, to recognize the racism displayed by Obama’s recent actions (the Gates episode, etc. all the way back to Rev. Wright) and of course is being immediately pilloried by the Obama apologists.
Hopefully, the public will soon understand that there is a plan afoot to turn our country over to the radical Left, abetted by the unions and the rich socialists such as America-hater George Soros.
My major concern is that Obama, being faced with evaporating public support, will abandon all pretense of leadership and aggressively pursue his goal of tyranny. His increasing reliance upon the thuggish, interventionist practices of unsavory union groups such as the SEIU and the radical, Communist-affiliated special interest group The Apollo Project bodes ill for our future freedom.
We must become increasingly vigilant. Don’t underestimate the viciousness of the weak and cornered.
That is creepy mainenowandthen. Didn’t realize his involvement with those groups. Do you have some good articles or posts on those topics? I actually have not heard of the Apollo Project.
I was aware that Obama has one or two appointees that are avowed communists. Can’t remember the departments they run.
Yeah – I guess I’m a little more optimistic. I think there is too much resistance in this country, both from the center and right of the Democratic Party and from the Republican Party to let him get too far. Maybe I’m naive.
But I definitely agree the man was not up to the challenge. That bothered me from day 1. A long time ago, before the election, I put together a chart comparing his credentials to all previous presidents and candidates, going back to 1906. Wasn’t scientific, but was enough to convince me he was definitely one of the least experienced.
http://americanmissive.com/2008/10/19/obama-inexperience-file/
The guys with as little experience as he had who actually became president did not do well…
Here’s a post about the communist. A guy named Van Jones.
http://www.aconservativevoicetoday.com/2009/07/obama-appointed-communist-green-jobs.html
Supposedly you aren’t supposed to mention this guy is a communist though. When you google this, there’s a lot of Obamabots out there who will spew venom at you if you mention the “c” word in respect to this man. He is evidently the “green jobs” czar.
Czar.
What has happened to this country that that has become a common term in the national political discourse??
Wait until he attacks Pakistan – we may have averted that though as they seem to have crackde down somehow. Granted, seem is a big word when discussing anything in that area of the world. Most things are not as they “seem”.
Mainenowandthen – Masshole by transplant here. Please pardon our state for crappy driving habits and voting in Kennedy for no other reason than pity and a family name.
yeah – he’s not attacking pakistan any time soon. My perspective is that both he and the major media outlets are keeping a lid on how bad things are getting in Afghanistan. Last thing he needs is his progressive base taking to the streets to protest war in the middle of this debacle of a healthcare debate. Ugh. What a mess.
I found this article the other day on Drudge. I think it is a pretty telling story of how the years after 2010 will likely play out.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574370832806338544.html
Saw that. Good article. Not a Clinton fan, but I can at least respect that he recognized the national political mood and changed course to bring his party back to the middle.
Not sure that was enough to get him reelected, though. I still wonder if he would have been reelected had Perot to run and had the GOP not nominated a dud like Bob Dole…
It is bad enough that he is so far left. It is even worse that he isn’t very competent at it. It is unfortunate though that he needn’t be either to build up a following like most demagogues. Neither Hitler nor Stalin were exceptionally bright people, but they were masters of manipulation. I don’t think Obama is remotely like them, but I’m just pointing out that he is still rather dangerous.
http://www.theblackcommenter.wordpress.com
Yeah – you know, I thought Obama was going to be a master manipulator. That was my biggest fear about the guy. I thought he was a savvy communicator.
For me, this health-care debate has exploded that viewpoint. He is far less foreboding as a manipulator to me, as a result of how badly he has managed his side of this debate.
I was very afraid he’d deftly cruise this thing through Congress with glowing rhetoric and bait-and-switch tactics. He has tried, but the American people are fighting back.
Still, the debate goes on and I’m anxious to see what strategies he deploys in September…