Posted on 01/25/2010 3:35:32 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Now that the voters in Massachusetts have put him on the ropes, President Barack Obama is spoiling for a fight. Speaking last week in Elyria, Ohio, the president, the New York Times reported, used some version of the word "fight" more than 20 times as he railed against the big banks, Wall Street, joblessness, and the economic downturn that has hit the nation hard.
As a newly-minted populist, Obama is hoping to win back the support of the independents and the "Reagan Democrats" who, over his first year in the White House, have become steadily less enthusiastic about his performance in office. The president, as the numbers reflect, has been losing the support of the center. On Monday, the Gallup organization released a new survey that shows the nation's first postpartisan president is an extremely polarizing figure despite an average job approval rating of 57 percent for his first year in office. Underneath that, however, is a lot of bad news.
He came into office seeking to unite the country, and his initial approval ratings ranked among the best for post-World War II presidents, including an average of 41 percent approval from Republicans in his first week in office. But he quickly lost most of his Republican support, with his approval rating among Republicans dropping below 30 percent in mid-February and below 20 percent in August. Throughout the year, his approval rating among Democrats exceeded 80 percent, and it showed little decline even as his overall approval rating fell from the mid-60s to roughly 50 percent.
The fact that the president continues to run strong among Democrats, which the White House political operation must certainly regard as good news, is tempered by his poor showing among the overall electorate. The latest Gallup presidential job approval numbers have the streams about to cross, with 48 percent of those surveyed approving of his performance and 47 percent disapproving.
Taking these two sets of data together, the high marks he gets from better than three quarters of Democrats means that, while retaining the support of the left, he is losing the right and, more importantly, the center.
The new populism unveiled in Ohio--which will almost certainly be a key refrain in Wednesday's State of the Union address--is an effort to win back the allegiance of those voters who have been deserting the president in droves. By positioning himself as someone who "fights" and will keep fighting for the little guy, Obama is attempting to tap into the anger among the electorate that helped propel Scott Brown into the Senate. The problem for Obama is that he fails to understand that much of that anger is directed directly at him.
It is now generally agreed that, as a candidate for president, Obama failed to define himself as a liberal--but it is as a liberal he has attempted to govern. He has attempted to tax, he has spent, and he has regulated in ways that threaten livelihoods and which run counter to Main Street common sense. The sense of alienation that produces among voters is not transient; it endures and it is costly.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to govern the country from either the left or the right alone. The center, as political consultant Dick Morris has written, is the "vital" part of the electorate. By losing it, Bush drove the Republicans into minority status. Without the center it is highly unlikely Obama can do much better.
...against WE THE PEOPLE.
Just try it, ya Kenyan, communist, racist tyrant!
In the Obamaverse, “fight” means “talk a lot more than before”.
What Good Can a Handgun Do Against an Army.....?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/backroom/2312894/posts?page=242
This was on purpose or he would have NEVER been elected. It's one of the reasons that they went after Joe the Plumber, to distract from what Obeyme gave away in his answer.
He has attempted to tax, he has spent, and he has regulated in ways that threaten livelihoods and which run counter to Main Street common sense. The sense of alienation that produces among voters is not transient; it endures and it is costly.
Obeyme has yet to learn this.
BTW, This is really bad for Obama's health.Arrogant, delusional, and soon to be gone.
You think he gives a rat’s ass what Americans think??
Obama channeling JFK: “Ask not what your country can do for you...ask what you and your country can do for me.”
An empty suit is just that.... empty!
So it appears Obama’s new winning stategy will require fighting himself.
They won't stand a chance against a civilian population that is pissed off and cornered.
The problem with generating hate, class envy, racial tensions, greed and civil unrest for political gain is that it turns on you when you can’t manipulate it. Obamao’s inexperience is showing. People are beginning to see their real problem, Obamao.
Indeed. The author was right on a lot of things, except that he seems to believe that Bush didn’t govern from the center but from the right...which was anything but the truth. Bush’s whole problem was that he plunged so far into the center that he overshot and went left.
And that’s what people didn’t like.
His actions say otherwise. He said he came into office seeking to "fundamentally transform" the US, and that he has tried to do. He's tried to change the US into a socialist huge government state with leanings toward fascism.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
And thats what people didnt like.
They didn't like it indeed.
Bush's approval as he left office ran from a CBS poll of only 22% to others at around 26%. To get that low, Bush had to lose the approval of all Democrats, all independents and alienate 33% of Republicans.
When you forget who brought you to the dance, don't be surprised when you don't have a ride home after the dance.
(Please FReepmail if you want on, or off, this list. I certainly have no desire to increase anyones stress-level. Thanks!!!)
Unfortunately, the way are taxes are going...we’re buying a lot of his junk agenda whether we want to or not.
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