Is anyone surprised that the president's poll numbers are slipping right now?

[Cant trust em]

I was under no illusion that when Obama started pushing his agenda that the inner conservative (aka cheapskate unwilling to make investments in the future) in many Americans would start to kick in. Let's face it, health care reform is expensive. The stimulus bill was expensive. I don't think that just because people were fed up with 8 years of Bush, that suddenly makes them liberal progressives.

[babylonsister]

1. That all depends on how you look at it...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8570946&mesg_id=8570946

[crim son]

2. No, I'm not surprised.

Disappointed, maybe. I agree with your assessment and furthermore I imagine the Bush Years have already become a dim memory in the minds of the people. We want Obama to perform miracles, dammit, and we want them now!

[maxsolomon]

3. the numbers are going down from both ends of the spectrum

the right wing yayhoos are scared, the right wing rich are whingeing, but the left is pissed because the health care reform doesn't go far enough (and it doesn't).

i'm a cynic, so i expect reform to fall short of single-payer (which i would prefer). given this country and how power operates here, he's doing fine.

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. What's funny is, if he supported single-payer he would keep the

left and lose no more of the right than he is already. All he'd be doing is what the right currently SAYS he is doing.

[Still Sensible]

7. I would like to see some valid polling numbers

because I suspect that if he demanded single payer he would lose some of the support in the middle that is included in his numbers right now. Has anybody seen any numbers that would answer that question one way or another?

[Barack_America]

4. What's the use of political capital if you don't spend it?

It's not the sort of thing you can put in a high yield savings account.

Obama is taking on arguably the most powerful lobby in DC and is still over 50%. If anything, I'm surprised that his poll numbers aren't lower, given what his opponents are investing in defeating him.

[MarjorieG]

12. He's using it doing just this much.

[dccrossman]

6. Define slipping...

http://www.pollingreport.com/obama_job.htm#ObamaJob



Looks like he was essentially flat from mid-March to the beginning of July. Right now, there's just an amazing amount of noise coming from the lunatic fringe and the people that waiver slide either to undecided or against. If Obama can get his message through the noise and explain health care reform over the fear factor, the poll numbers will probably bounce back to the earlier levels.

The entire month of July was one lie after another about what the health care reform bill was, and how evil Obama and ObamaCare are.

I think that the thought that he is spending political capital, at least in the form of public will, on health care reform, is a false premise. If he went Single Payer, then that would have cost some political capital (worth it IMO), but he didn't go that far.

Now he is spending some, in the form of Congressional Will, but there's no way around that.

[FrenchieCat]

8. Well with the media on his case 24/7......

it was what they wanted, and they still control sway of opinions of enough to have made the difference reflected in the drop. I'm not surprised, just irritated that the reporting is all so negative, but I guess it has to be in order to keep this President from being as successful as he might normally be if the reporting was balanced and factual. Guess that getting America back on the right track is not a priority for the corporate media....afterall, the media has to "prove" that they are not Obamabots, althought they didn't seem to have a problem with our impression that they were Bush bootlickers.

[paulk]

9. his numbers are tied to the economy, not healthcare

IMO.

[soothsayer]

10. going to court to defend bush's anti-constitution policies doesn't help us love him

[AspenRose]

11. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8568384

[JuniperLea]

14. When Politico says he's up...

He must be WAY up!

Good stuff!

[Phx_Dem]

13. I'm not sure that they are! Gallup had him gaining 4 points this week over last,

and the Research 2000 Daily Kos-sponsored poll has him at 62.

The media plays fast and loose with poll numbers so don't believe everthing (anything?) you hear on TV.

[Robbins]

15. Polls

There are a few that have him at 56 and up approval.Of course today they will only talk about the Q Poll of fifty percent approval even though It's own poll says voters trust Obama more than Republicans.