The INSIDIOUS propaganda about Obama's approval ratings is DEAD. WRONG.

[Triana]

WHY THE HELL did Dem candidates buy into that shit, and worse -- RUN from it!? IDIOTS!

[randys1]

1. If fox says it, dems believe it, somehow, everytime

[whathehell]

2. Thanks for the Clarity -- Why didn't our lame ass dems pound this BEFORE the election?

I got so SICK of hearing about our supposedly "unpopular" president -- Problem is,

the media is all part of the "right wing conspiracy" I believe Hillary talked about back

then...I have no idea how to fight all these insidious, money driven forces.

[Raine1967]

3. And this:

Am pissed off.

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. Let's be honest, the "inside the beltway" m$m offered a big old helping hand to the GOP.

Everybody wanted a piece of that $4B that was spread around to ensure Repub victories. When you look at the Sunday talk shows, it's usually 2/3 to 1, Repuke to Dem guests. For some reason, they think GOP are more interesting guests?

[Demoiselle]

5. Thank you for this post, Triana…(nt)

[defacto7]

6. That's the hallmark of propaganda.

Push the lie, quash the truth, gain an ear.

[tritsofme]

7. 40% isn't a good approval rating.

Example: Tuesday.

That other presidents have sunk lower at some points in their presidencies does not mitigate his current poor rating.

[Triana]

8. DID YOU CONSTANTLY HEAR, when those other Presidents were at lower ratings

a drumbeat of "unpopular President" memes - every single time you turned on a radio or TV? Almost every minute of every day?

BECAUSE I DID, when it came to Obama's ratings which were and ARE higher than those other Presidents and PARTICULARLY the Republicans. NO MEDIA insidiously parrotted a constant drumbeat of "unpopular President" when they were so low (or lower) in approval.

That is my POINT.

I did NOT say 40% was a good approval rating. What I AM saying is that OTHER Presidents had the same or lower ratings and when they did there was little to NO media drumbeat about how "unpopular" they were.

[tritsofme]

11. Presidential approval ratings are always a big story.

Old man Bush's tanking approval ratings from his Gulf War high was a huge story throughout the cycle.

Bush the lesser's falling approval ratings after 2005 probably defined the news coverage of his presidency until the financial crisis hit.

Nixon obviously had horrible ratings leading up to his resignation, and that wasn't hidden from anyone.

Carter and Ford were headed to defeat, so their low approval was to be expected.

Reagan and Clinton's poor ratings were transitory, and they went on to win big reelection victories. But it was big news that was analyzed to death at time.

If you think constant hemming and haughing over approval ratings is a new development, I might suggest that you haven't been paying attention all that long or all that much.

[7962]

13. I definitely remember hearing it during the Bush years. nt

[Triana]

15. I don't. And certainly not constantly every day, every minute, every hour for MONTHS.

That's what I've heard about Obama.

[Kablooie]

9. Facts are irrelevant. Marketing and spin is all anyone cares about.

Spout all the facts you want but all they will do is make the public angry with you.

Today's electorate are influenced only by loud, repetitive propaganda and the Republicans own the megaphone.

If this were not the case we would have a healthy bevy of Democrats in government.

[mcar]

10. K&R for reality

What a concept

[LeftInTX]

12. They weren't thinking straight

Approval ratings are very subjective and subject to interpretation. Since congressional approval rating is currently only 13% how come they keep getting re-elected? McConnell's favorability was only 39% and he won.

[glinda]

14. 2 much complaining. We need to fix this. Media has the the Nation sewed up. We need to fix this.

IF we do not invent a new way to get info out to every person or somehow come up with something we are more than dead.

[Man from Pickens]

16. Try comparing apples to apples

When you paint every set of data in as favorable as possible a light, all you are doing is conducting an exercise in self deception.

While Obama's overall low-mark approval numbers aren't as low as some other Presidents, it's the approval number at election time - not January, March, or July - that matters.

And here's the ugly facts about Obama's approval numbers:

- The last time any poll showed Obama above 50% approval was May 2013. For a full year and a half straight, Obama has had underwater approval numbers, mostly in the low 40s
- The last time Obama had better than 50% approval as an average poll result was March 2013.
- The last time Obama was over 45% in poll average approval was October 2013 - 13 months. 45 percent is significant because when incumbents poll less than that they almost always lose.
- At the 2nd midterm election mark, the past three Presidents' numbers are: Obama 42, Bush 36, Clinton 66.
- At the 2nd midterm election mark, the historical average Presidential approval rating is 47.

Are Obama's approval numbers terrible? No, but they're not good, either.

On the flip side, there's the disapproval number. That number has been continuously above 50% since October 2013. In a democratic country where the support of the people is paramount, this major warning sign has been ignored, to the detriment of the party's performance. That disapproval number has been 50% or more in every single Gallup poll since September 2013.

Now, I'm not going to claim that approval numbers are in and of themselves hugely significant indicators. But if you're going to discuss them, do so realistically, and not with an eye towards convincing yourself of something that is not the case. The bad habit of refusing to acknowledge any potential problem may exist set up this historic loss.

And this loss was historic. Worst Democratic Party performance for Congress since 1931; worst party performance on the state level since the 1920s. If this feedback from the electorate does not prompt a reassessment, what could possibly do so? Will you consider another approach if we drop below 40 Senate seats or below 100 House seats? Or do those have to go all the way to zero before you figure out that maybe, just maybe, something isn't working?


Sources:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval-1044.html
http://www.gallup.com/poll/116479/Barack-Obama-Presidential-Job-Approval.aspx

[betsuni]

17. This made me SO MAD, it was universal. Following the script.

PBS, ABC, BBC, etc. Oh, look at that terrible 40-44% approval rating. Obama's so unpopular, what a loser. Tsk tsk.

I watch the news only to see how wrong they get the story. And when reporters ask random carbon units on the streets what they think, they mumble something vague about the country going in the wrong direction or failed policies or Obama didn't do what he said he'd do or why won't the president work with Congress and clearly they couldn't come up with anything specific and true even if you offered cash money and a complimentary hot beverage.

When are the UN troops coming to invade the U.S.? First fix the media. Then insist the fork goes in the left hand, and stop slouching. Somebody tell them to hurry it up.

[barbtries]

18. self fulfilling prophecy.

corporate media. karl rove. reality is what they say it is.
i feel bitter these days.