I don't put much stock into this, nor does it match my own feelings. That said, it doesn't bode well for Senate and House Democrats in the next election as there numbers are even worse.

Well... 100% of republicans hate him...

So really, he has like a 90% approval rating from rational individuals.

Basically, the loss is from liberals and moderates who are upset with him not pushing for a better health care plan and for not fighting hard enough against the GOP -- combined with a percentage of moderates who believe all the crap about "death panels" and so on.

He hasn't lost much with conservatives who were against him before he even took office.

The numbers are staggeringly different based on age groups, too. The older you are, the less you like him and vice versa.

Almost every one of these liberals who are mad at him now would support him if he gets the health care plan passed, and almost every one would vote for him again over any Republican candidate. In fact, other polls confirm that the generic Democrat still beats the generic Republican in all elections.

Not to say that this isn't a drop, but hey, even I am not as happy with him as I could be. Maybe the poll numbers will encourage him to grow a pair and stop dealing with people who have no intention of working with him.

i had my fingers crossed obama could unite but instead he continues to divide and i continue to struggle with most of the policies he is pushing. i'd be on the disapprove side.

I definitely disapprove of his handling of health care. I could give a shit about him uniting or seeking bipartisanship. 66% of Republicans either don't believe he is or doubt he's a natural born citizen. Fuck that entire party of nut jobs.

I disapprove of his handing the health care issue over to Pelosi and Reid. He should have drafted at least a deal memo of what he wanted instead of expecting the Dem leadership in Congress to take care of it. In the meantime, the GOP lies about govt take-over of health care, rationing, and death panels have been allowed to take root. That should never have happened. Of COURSE they were going to lie about it. He should have seen that coming.

You can't be serious ...

He's trying to accomodate them, in any other democratic country trying to get support from the opposition when you already have a majority is laughable. Obama needs to grow a pair and take a page from the Bush stubborn bulldog book.

I give Obama's first 8 months a D for Disappointing

Healthcare is a disaster. Obama had the power to reform it as much as he wanted to. Instead the first thing he did was take single-payer completely off the table and out of the discussion, and then let Congress and all the Senators paid off by insurance companies further defang whatever reform was left. The Town Hall meetings by Republicans are retarded because they're getting the status quo they want... it should be Democrats pissed off at this reform

The Economy and war are still in terrible shape. The Stimulus... whatever

The shutting down of Guantanamo is a paper tiger. The US hasn't stopped its torture practice at all... it's just all done in foreign countries under US jurisdiction like it has been for years. Shutting down that place was strictly a symbolic gesture and probably had as much impact on his PR and making him look good as it did anywhere else. BUSH did more to eliminate torture practices near the end of his administration than Obama has so far.

And while it's not as big an issue (yet), Brazil, Venezuela, and a lot of the other Latin America countries, are starting to turn to China more than the US, partly because China's economy is doing better than ours, partly because they're just more on the ball for the future. It'd be a very Fox News type thing to say 'They want to take us down!!!'... but yeah, if the US wants to avoid a world with two major superpowers, they better start paying attention to stuff like the China-Venezuela huge 2012 oil deal or China and Brazil's emerging relationship right now. And furthermore as those SA countries get stronger, potential tensions and conflicts rise among themselves as well. South America is going to be a very big talking point in the upcoming decades and Obama better start keeping an eye on the ongoings down there

It is a well known fact that I am never was fully behind Obama however I have to say this.

In this case it si not Obama that is dividing this nation but instead the Limbaugh's, Alex Jones's, and several key people in the republican party that are doing everything they can to stake a claim and form their own identity. Even outright lying(death panels, higher taxes and so forth).

It is impossible to not be divisive when you have people whose entire purpose is to be exactly that divisive. You can't reason with someone who refuses to be reasonable.

Obama has his major slip ups. In this respect he allowed this environment to ferment. Not properly defending his budget with enough force. Allowing the war in Iraq to linger on and not really putting enough really change into Afghanistan. Not putting enough oversight on the bailout early enough and still not putting enough oversight afterwords. Defending the warrantless wire tapping of the last administration(at least in court). The whole issue with torture and the attempt to reserve the right to "some" techniques. The internet czar and so forth.

So yeah Jim if Obama is divisive it is because he doesn't address the issue of government mistrust. This then allows people who are actually divisive to come in and say whatever they want.

Oh absolutely. Aren't you paying attention? He keeps trying to make accomodations, and have the GOP in on negotiations and everything, and then they say that it doesn't matter what he does, they will vote against ANY health plan, no matter how much he gives them. Then to make matters worse, they lie about the plan ("The government will kill grandma!")

It's a complete waste of time to deal with people like that. The fact that he continues to do so is one of the main reasons his poll numbers are dropping, because the drop is coming from liberals, not conservatives.

His handling of health care mirrors 1993 when Clinton tried something. Obama has learned little. Hell even his handling of gays in the military has been off handed. At least Clinton did initiate the much criticized "Don't Ask Don't Tell" which while far from perfect does provide a level of protection. Obama is just maintaining the Status Quo.

You are correct in your first post. The douche conservatives in the media are driving this country apart.

Obama's attempts at accomodating Republicans have all been complete and utter failures. There has been no bi-partisan movement to speak of. Having the GOP in on negotiations is good comon sense, you'd rather a President who alienates a party and in doing so goes directly against his own campaign? We need a President who can be the bigger man, bring both sides to the table to ensure the best outcome for the people of this country, not lower himself to his opponents tactics.

The problem here is the GOP is so contentious against Obama, and he has been unable to bring them into the fold, that all attempts at bi-partisanship have failed miserably. I think a large part of this is simply because congressional and house democrats are unwilling to compramise too much because of their newfound control, and the GOP isn't going to tie themselves to a bill without putting their mark on it. I honestly think more of the problem lies with the democratic senate and house, which Obama has yet to prove he controls. Say what you will about Bush, but he generally had control of his party, I'm not sure Obama does. As such, it's been a giant clusterfuck, one Obama has failed to navigate.

All the above said, I think saying he hasn't fought hard enough against the GOP is a silly statement, ripe with partisan politics, bad intentions and worse outcomes.

1945 Great Britain - The Labour Government has decide to pospone plans for a National Healthcare system due to opposition from the minority Conservative Party. Despite Clement Attlee's crushing defeat in the July Elections he felt he could not go ahead with the plans without the support of the opposition.

It is my opinion that, in terms of approval rating, Barrack Obama has nothing to be worried about.

1st of all, do not confuse numbers.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls ... -1044.html

^Thats every major approval rating. Obamas current approval rating is 53-54%-only the ultra conservative "Rasmussen" has it in the 40's, and excluding that one, Obamas aproval rating is just over 55%.

2nd of all, this happens to every President. Yes, not to the extent it has for Obama (aside from Bill Clinton) but this was expected. Obama came in on an electric high; he had nowhere to but down. That was certain.

3rd of all, Obama faced a mountain of problems, none of which were quick fixes. Economy, war, and healthcare were just a few.

There is still a lot of unncertainty, and whats happening is, as the country isnt fixed immeadietly by Obama as some had hoped, people begin to doubt as the Republicans cry and scream about any little thing they can.

The reality is the stimulus bill has barely begun to take effect, but it looks lilke the benfits of it will be arriving just as the economy picks itself up, likely towards the end of 2009 or early 2010.

People forget the exact same thing happened to Bill Clinton in 1993...and we know how that worked out.

Its my take that is it is not fair to judge a longterm plan on its short term outcomes, Republicans made the same mistake by getting all over Clintons huge budget back in 1993 and it bit them in the ass a year later when it worked.

His next election could be somewhat difficult.

I doubt young people and blacks will come out in gigantic numbers as last time and I expect seniors and Republicans to charge up.

Obama should win back the presidency but I don't see no 1984 Good Morning America (Regan) for Obama.

Imo I think Obama will have a very tough first term and then most likely be cruising in the 2nd year.

However Obama imo looks like he is just a big talker to me.

Well, he's inherited multiple disasters from the previous administration. That coupled with how unrealistically emotional everyone was during the elections was bound to lead to a little dissappointment. Seriously, can't save the world's economy in a year and a half. I'm pissed at health care, but that was one of the few issues I already knew he was weak with from the primaries, so the disappointment is not shocking. I think everyone's shock was that they expected him to spit rainbows or something the minute he got elected. Nothing moves that quickly and everyone is frustrated because they wanted to see insta-change the minute Bush was out of there.

I don't think Obama is doing the greatest job on the micromanaging level. The planning, budgetting, line-item details of health care, bailout, and so forth. But I still think he's going strong rebuilding America's image internationally and he's still effecting a strong mood change in the country. That's what we need first and foremost. If another year and a half the tune hasn't changed, then I'm going to get irritated.

Yeah I think he is heading to the path of Bill Clinton.

Will face trouble in the start and then things get better and is generally seen as a cool by the people. Democrats will remember him as great and Republicans will hate him.

The only presidents in the last 50 years that were well liked by both sides were I would say are Regan, Eishenhower and Kennedy.

All three are well respected by independents and centrist.

No, no, don't lower yourself to their tactics. As you have mentioned, he has tried to work with them, but they are saying -- and I'm not exaggerating here -- that they are not willing to give an inch. They refuse to negotiate and will vote against ANY bill, even with concessions. That's a sign that the GOP is the "alienating" party, which makes no sense as they are in the minority here.

Obama should say "Well, I tried, don't blame me" and then do what he wants without them. Anything else is a complete waste of time.



Democrats are by nature not conformists, unlike Republicans who tend to like order and fall in line, not questioning their leaders. And I stand by my statement. Obama should not be giving in to people who are encouraging these crazy teabaggers and birthers and others who are tearing our country apart and who refuse to compromise in any way. He should be fighting them. They shame America.

I think it's hilarious that my family who hates Obama... like 90% of my family... thinks there will be an "uprising" against him to force him out of office.

Naivety at it's finest.

I was never backing Obama either because I felt his health care plan was poor when compared to the Clinton and Edward plans, and with little background, wasn't sure he'd be able to push things through Congress as well as Clinton could have. On the non-political change, which Dolce mentions a little, he was far better, but I felt with all the problems it would have been best to go with someone "safe", and then move more towards Obama.

But that's the past, and now, while Obama isn't doing much, I'm still going to wait to see what he can accomplish after 1 year. And please stop allowing Congress so much control. Like Beeble mentioned with Pelosi and Reid over the Health Care issue, Congress has shown they are completely useless. It's time Obama gets aggressive here.

Personally, I like the guy and think he isn't really nefarious. But yeah, he's being really bullish on the economy picking up before next fall (it's the only reason I can see why he's doing what he's doing in response to the GOP retards), and his backsliding is horrendous.

This has happened to every president ever. They get elected, and their approval rating drops in the first year. The only exception is Dubya, whose approval rating shot up after 9/11.

With that said, I predict that Republicans will start to regain some lost seats in Congress in 2010, and presidential election 2012 will be much closer than 2008. Obama is not the shoe-in to be re-elected the same way he was to be elected in the first place.

Also, I think health care reform will fail - the whole ordeal is eerily similar to Bush's attempt to reform Social Security.

That's pretty uncommon, isn't it?

Mike,

Obama ran on a platform of unity and change, and you now want him to abandon that? I can understand your anger at Republicans to an extent, but alienating them further is not the answer here.