Posted on 06/08/2012 6:35:00 AM PDT by Kaslin
On my book "tour" to promote my new book, "The Great Destroyer," hosts keep asking me to explain how President Obama can maintain high personal approval ratings when his policies are unpopular and his record is abysmal.
I first want to challenge the underlying assumption. I don't believe that President Obama is as well-liked or, at this point, even as likable as he is reputed to be. He hasn't behaved in office as a person most would consider "likable."
Assuming these polls are being accurately reported, I tend to think that many people are responding favorably to the question of whether they like Obama personally largely because the media narrative has been and remains that he is likable.
When the media keep pounding us with the notion that he is likable, people may fear they are revealing their own personal failings if they confess that they aren't particularly fond of him. It could make them look out of step or expose them as negative people.
People are much likelier to be candid in the privacy of the polling booth, but even if I'm wrong about this, I don't believe that people will allow their personal fondness for Obama to outweigh their assessment of the disastrous consequences of his policies, which are far more relevant to their lives and to their children's future than their personal opinion of his likability.
So what about his behavior and his demeanor supports the media narrative that he is eminently likable?
From the outset, the media have portrayed Obama as a uniter, a post-partisan, a man who wants to bring us together as one as he ushers in his new era of hope and change for America. Even after more than a year of his intentionally divisive and hyper-partisan behavior, they were depicting him as a man committed to conciliation and compromise.
In fact, at one point, as I chronicle in my book, the media reported that Obama and his advisers had made a conscious decision to change their approach to dealing with Republicans. Henceforth, Obama would be more combative, be more aggressive, be more partisan and take his case to the American people in stark terms, showing the dangerous contrast between his policies and those of Republicans.
This was after Obama had already engaged in incredibly divisive behavior by behaving as a bully toward his opponents and others he routinely singled out for vilification and treating Republicans as though they were not entitled to a seat at the table of government.
Obama's behavior has been consistently unpresidential. His gross narcissism has been on display from the outset; he has refused to accept responsibility for his policies; he has blamed President George W. Bush for his own economic policies; he has accused Republicans of being hostage takers, of wanting a small America and dirtier air and water, of having no compassion for the poor and disabled, of wanting to wipe out basic protections for people, and of refusing to rebuild our infrastructure because they don't care about our crumbling roads and bridges.
Instead of bringing Americans together in a spirit of unity and harmony, he has divided us through the aggressive exploitation of identity politics, appealing to us and pitting us against one another according to groups and categories -- race, gender, sexual preference, ethnicity and economic class. He has made specific overt appeals to Latino and black voters to support him on the basis of their race and told them that Republicans do not have their best interests in mind. He has demonized oil companies, private jet owners, insurers, financial institutions and people who earn substantially more money than other Americans. He has fomented a war between labor and management.
He has continued to apologize for and criticize America and told foreigners on foreign soil that Americans distrust Islam and think of Indians as people in call centers, and he has told military members at a White House barbecue that the Framers were men of property and wealth.
While he has wagged his finger at corporate America, jet owners and Republicans for their greed and profligacy, he has gallivanted around the world and the nation spending millions of taxpayer dollars on his own campaigns and on lavish vacations, having sent his wife and dog, respectively, on separate jets on occasion.
For these and many other reasons, I'm not convinced Obama is perceived as particularly likable by the American people any longer, but even if he is, I am sure that any personal fondness people may have for him will not blind them to his disastrous record, which is driving America inexorably toward financial bankruptcy.
He’s a PUNK thug.....why is he perceived to be popular??
No, because he is becoming loathed by his sophmoric behavior.
Liberals are mentally ill. Zero’s “record” means no more to them than any other facts. They’ll vote for Hitler himself if Hitler were to run as a dim.
What "Personal Popularity"? He's a self absorbed, petty SOB. If he weren't black, no one would even pretend he was popular.
What has he done to make himself ‘likeable’? Please.
Nobody, even in his own party, can stand this guy and the misus.
Don’t buy into the poll number, because people LIED to pollsters.
NO! Not even his popularity with the ignorant pop culture will save him from his policy actions and political corruption.
Obama isn’t black, not in the cultural sense of the word. He’s as white as Lenin. he never had to ride the public bus to school with drunks and junkies, never had to work at the bodega to help support his mother and siblings, never lived in a rat and roach infested neighborhood out of necessity.
He has known none of the privation the government forced on the actual black community.
He is as much a child of privilege as is Romney.
Nailed it. He’s about as likable as a case of the clap.
LLS
Uh, no one likes this creep except professional pretender George Clooney, The professional racist Chris Rock (a tenuous friendship at best, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Bouncy-Z.
A true friend of the common working man as anyone can see...
What are these likability numbers? I always see it referenced, but never see the actual poll results. Is it 55% likable? Is it 65% likable?
If I recall, Bush maintained good likability numbers through the first 2/3rds of his term, as well. It is rare for these to fall too far. For example, First Lady’s always have sky-high numbers, regardless of the performance of the President.
How would most Americans answer this non-biased question: Regardless of how you feel about his policies, do you approve of obama’s treatment of his beautiful daughters, or are you a red-necked, racist pig?
He’s not popular. No one wants to be called a racist.
This is a “white guilt” poll. People are afraid of the race card, and will say that they personally like the guy to ease their conscience over firing a black guy who can’t do the job.
And don’t forget; people personally liked Jimmy Carter, too.
The rest of us can't stand the son of a bitch.
What large voting bloc that didn't vote for zero the first time around have been convinced that they will vote for him in November because he is a nice guy? NONE!
What large voting bloc that did vote for the pretender because he was black and a nice guy will NOT vote for him in November? LOTS!
Nailed it. I would love the pollsters to ask the question: "What would you say is Obama's most endearing quality that makes him so likable?"
I then read the article. Damn fine summary, there.
...”If he weren’t black, no one would even pretend he was popular.”....
Ummm, hate to break this to you, partner: Barack Obama is not “black”. He isn’t even really half-black, having more Arab than negroid racial blood.
“In 2008 people voted for Obama in order to prove they were not racist. In 2012 they will vote against Obama in order to prove they are not stupid” El Rusho
I disagree. He may have been raised by whites, but his statements and actions place him at odds with whites and he appears to abhor whatever white heritage he has. Couple that with his support of Holder's actions at the Dept of inJustice to us it as an instrument to promote class warfare, promote black power and persecute whites, and clearly embraces the black culture.
Fact is he’s not BLACK at all, he’s a mulatto, who was raised by a white mother who was a VP of a Bank, and his Maternal white grandparents.
The very idea Obama is “black” in what is generally meant by the term is his skin color. The idea this overprivaleged brat strugged a day in his life is laughable.
Fact is he’s not BLACK at all, he’s a mulatto, who was raised by a white mother who was a VP of a Bank, and his Maternal white grandparents.
The very idea Obama is “black” in what is generally meant by the term is his skin color. The idea this overprivileged brat struggled a day in his life is laughable.
I think that's what makes him "likeable" to the public. If he loses the media, he's done for.
But what makes him likeable to the media is probably the fact that he's black, a raving leftist, and despises America, which is all it takes to win the hearts and minds of the mass media.
You may be correct. What do you base your conclusion on? Have you seen a REAL birth certificate on this guy, or any verifiable documents for that matter? You certainly can't trust anything he says, or writes. In reality, he has no idea who his daddy is/was, and neither did his mother. He's a bastard in the truest sense of the word.
He is counting on the ignorant to reelect him, but many of those who voted for him in 2008, woke up and have seen the damage he has done and will not vote for him, and those are not the ignorant.
You can’t tell me he didn’t know what he was doing in that photo. He knew, and he is meaner than the meanest Republican because he is a Marxist, extremist, ACORN, Rev Wright faithful, THUG.
Don’t put anything past him doing some pretty thugish things this election season, and if he loses, don’t be surprised if he poisons the wells, salts the fields, and burns everything he can to hurt this country consistent with his extremist beliefs on his way out the door.
Like the picture, that is what he is.
My teenagers say Obama is “snarky” and “mean.” They also say they’ll never say that to their friends or classmates becuase they’ll be called racist and bigots. So what does this tell you about the accuracy of any poll dealing with “personal likeablity?”
I hope Øbama chokes on a chicken bone tonight. . .
Now now, you’re risking the ‘threat of Biden’ be played on you ... and as we all know, Joe Biden would last about two weeks in the office and be carried out by the white coats as he frothed in a delerium tremor. But then ... is it Boehner in the wings? Gads!
He is one and done and folks are starting to wake up.
A democrat voter would answer your question —if being honest, which is so rare an occasion with democrats— that they admire how he continues to lie and add lies on top of lies as he gets exposed, and the feckless republicans do nothing to stop his ‘work’.
Effeminate gays like Obama are adored by ferries, butch feminist, and the emasculated males of the left, but the whole personal popularity thing has its limits.
Barry Soetoro fits the profile of a malignant sociopath quite well. And we have a history of what successful malignant sociopaths who gain huge popularity will do when the end for them is near ... the end being rejection due to over exposure of their mountain of lies. The name Jim Jones comes to mind, and with little barry bastard boy we have a malignant sociopath who has attained a so much higher palteau of adoration. He will try to punish America when we the people reject him as what he is. The only question is, by what executive orders and directives to his thug-in-chief Holder will he institute these punishments in his suicidal burst?
the ONLY thing that will save obama is continued stupidity from the GOP....
And Your party, whatever party it might be can do better? Yeah right. /s>
And Your party, whatever party it might be, can do better? Yeah right. /s>
I suppose Obama is likable when compared with Jimmy Carter but that is really, really easy.
The “black” thing is just another tool for him to use in his idealogical pursuit. He’s much more Red than black.
..because the libtard media wants it that way
Honestly, if he had kept his mouth shut and just built habitat houses, then I would have a personally like for the old man Carter.... however, his anti-American and loud mouthed behavior really killed any positive view I have of him.
Oh, well, he did sign the bill to allow home brewing of beer. That was cool.
Why?
Because the event will validate the best argument I've heard from advocates of constitutional monarchies: in a monarchy, the citizenry love their sovereign, and thus are free to vote strictly on policy issues for the party whose parliamentary platform is most congenial to them, rather than on the basis of the personality of the candidate standing for MP or the leader of the party. A lot of folks who didn't like Margaret Thatcher as a person voted Tory back in the day because they knew her program was the only thing that would save Britain. In our system, folks want to like the President because besides being head of government, he's head of state as well, so things like personality and looks get muddled up with policy considerations in voters minds. (Arguably, if we had a monarch as head of state, folks would have been much more willing to vote for Newt Gingrich, since his "negatives" were essentially all personal, rather than policy.)
To condense: Hussein is likable because he has a broad smile and says words that the “cult of personality” types find appealing. He is Bill Clinton redux, unfortunately with an even emptier suit.
How many of these do you see in Obama?
The ten most hated traits
I refuse to vote for any democrat, andI refuse to vote for any third party candidate that has absolutely no chance to get a nomination or win
Good points all. We really do not know who or what he truly is. I agree!
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