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Trends In Public Opinion

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trapeze:
I think that the tipping point has passed. I can't put an exact date to it other than last November's election but it would probably be some time before that given the outcome.

That said, I think that things have tipped even further since then. I offer up as evidence this article on Obama's new spending plan. The article itself is nothing special, just more of the same "Obama is so incredible that he farts rainbows" type fawning adoration from the AP that we have been shovel fed for the last three years. It was featured this morning at the top of the third column at the Drudge Report so it has been given "exposure." It's also on Yahoo Finance which means that it is an AP story that can be commented on.

So, what's the evidence? The evidence is in the comments. As I write this there are upwards of 85 comments and not a single one is positive, pro-Obama or even vaguely in his defense. There have always been negative comments, that's normal. But the balance has slowly swung over the last 18 months as people have grown tired of waiting for the "magic" to occur. And when it hasn't, they have begun to look for reasons as to why it hasn't. Some have turned to talk radio for the answers. Some to Glenn  Beck, some have turned to conservative blogs and some have figured it out on their own.

They have come to the conclusion that Obama is a fool.

And because of that conclusion no one (or fewer with each passing day) wants to be associated with him and be thought a fool by association. Thus, the (so far) unanimous negative (and mocking and worse) comments on the Yahoo version of the AP story.

IronDioPriest:
What I'd like to know when I look at Obama disapproval is; among those who disapprove of his performance, what percentage disapproves because he's not been successful in their view at bringing about full-on radical Leftist Socialism, and hasn't been successful at "kicking our asses" in the manner in which they believe our asses need to be kicked.

Based on the 2010 election, there are presumably a good number of people who voted for hopenchange who now see it as folly. They would be people who've turned against Obama because of his radical Leftism. But there are others who've turned against him because they believe he has not gone far enough in forcing his agenda. That would seemingly be a distinct minority right now, but it still skews the disapproval numbers. For electoral purposes, that's all one needs to know. But for getting a general sense of where the electorate stands ideologically, it's not as helpful. As we saw in Wisconsin, and in the closeness of individual races last November (the overall blowout notwithstanding), despite everything Obama has done - ideologically speaking, we are a people roughly divided 50-50%. If Obama were to be more successful and decisive at implementing radical Leftist policy, I suspect we might see those approval numbers swing back toward the middle. It's just a sense I have, not based on any ability to crunch numbers like this.

trapeze:
I put that number at 10% or maybe 12% at best. As to the rest of the "approve" numbers, some of that is still being affected by the "Bradley Effect."

I think it's too late for any Obama "success" to have any positive effect on his numbers. He f**ks up everything he touches and he takes too much time off. "Stupid and lazy" is hard (if not impossible) to overcome once the notion is firmly embedded in the collective consciousness. "Stupid, lazy and arrogant" is even worse. Quite the accomplishment when you consider that he did it despite having a near unanimous cheering section in the media.

The media, BTW, will be the last to admit that Toonces has jumped the shark. But they will. If they cannot form public opinion then they will follow it at some point because it is inevitable. You can't keep pretending that the emperor has clothes when the vast majority of your customers are no longer fooled.

trapeze:
The press is still trying, though. Written in today's NYT:


--- Quote ---“He’s the undisputed grownup in the group,” said Jim Jordan, a Democratic strategist who has managed Senate and presidential campaigns across the country. “Presidents almost always compare well against Congress.”
--- End quote ---

It won't be long before the Times has to stop accepting ridiculous statements such as this one from Democrat party hacks because it will really start to look foolish for them to do so.

Even the article's title is ludicrous:

"President Adopts a Measured Course to Recapture the Middle"

Toonces didn't do a damn thing in the budget negotiations. He hasn't shown any propensity to lead in anything at any time and it is becoming obvious even to those who don't pay much attention to current events.

Comments were not enabled for this story.

rickl:

--- Quote from: trapeze on April 10, 2011, 12:06:21 PM ---Comments were not enabled for this story.

--- End quote ---

Wonder why?

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