Worst Poll Ever?

Henshaw — Wed, 11 May 2011 21:38:42 +0000

Today the Associated Press released a poll showing that President Obama had a 60 point approval rating. That’s an astonishing poll and huge news for the President. It’s odd because no other pollster is showing that much of a change. Thankfully, Jim Geraghty at The Campaign Spot has looked at the poll’s internals (emphasis added).

It is a poll of adults, which isn’t surprising; as I mentioned yesterday, you don’t have to be a registered or likely voter to have an opinion on the president. But then you get to the party ID: 46 percent identify as Democrat or leaning Democrat, 29 percent identify as Republican or leaning Republican, 4 percent identify as purely independent leaning towards neither party, and 20 percent answered, “I don’t know.”

For contrast, the AP’s immediate preceding poll was 45 percent Democrat, 33 percent Republican; the likely-voter pool in October 2010 was 43 percent Democrat, 48 percent Republican. The poll’s total sample in October 2010 split 43 percent Democrat, 40 percent Republican.

Not only did we kill Osama Bin Laden, but the entire electorate has changed. The AP ran this horrible poll to make news. There’s no other exploitation. No reasonable person can take this ridiculous poll seriously. Did I say reasonable? The list of news outlets that are running this poll as news is almost endless. Today Time, New York Daily News, The Guardian, NPR, Gawker, and CBS all cite this poll. Explain to me how any journalist with a brain could pass this off as news. Oh, that’s right… most journalists are Democrats and they’ll endorse any narrative that supports a Democrat president.

obama’s approval sinking

Henshaw — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:36:36 +0000

I have often asserted that to be successful in presidential politics it matters less what the president is doing in the White House than what’s going on in the economy. It’s nearly impossible for a president to successfully run for reelection if the economy is in the tank. This explains Obama’s sinking approval ratings. Rasmussen has Obama’s approval rating at 52%. Republicans are leading the generic ballot. In other words, if an election was held today Obama would probably win, but the Democrats would lose tons of seats in Congress. The generic ballot suggests that it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the Republicans to take control of the House in the mid-term elections.
Obviously there’s a lot of time before any kind of election and everything can change. Obama has barely been in office for six months so projections about his future are not certain; however, the idea that he’s untouchable should slowly start fading. The president’s future is tied with the economy. If things don’t start turning before the mid-terms his party will take a beating at the polls. Expect the press to blame Christians and angry white males. The economy is the real culprit.

The Daily Plunge » Approval Rating

Worst Poll Ever?

obama’s approval sinking