Has anyone seen these polls?

[Bond]

I very rarely look at political polls, but I heard a few days ago that President Obama's poll numbers had slipped quite a lot.

Take a look at these few graphs I pulled from Rasmussen Reports:







I don't mean to insinuate anything from this, but I was thoroughly surprised at these numbers.

[Dylflon]

Fox News is probably to blame.

[DeathsHand]

Approx 65% of Americans approved of what Obama was doing... Before he even did anything.
That statistic is dropping, you say? Surprising.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by DeathsHand

Approx 65% of Americans approved of what Obama was doing... Before he even did anything.
That statistic is dropping, you say? Surprising.

So American people are showing that they would rather Pres. Obama did nothing than anything he's done so far. Interesting.

[Bond]

I actually thought the first graphic was the most interesting. Generic Democrat / Republican polling shows Republicans ahead in every major category except Gov't Ethics (tied on Iraq).

[Jason1]

The American people dont know whats good, They Elected president Bush twice, proving my point.

And the fact that Nickelback is popular also proves my point.

[Fox 6]

Originally Posted by Jason1

The American people dont know whats good

Thats why they elected Obama?


You cant say that without de-validating every choice they have made.

You cant have your cake and eat it too.

[KillerGremlin]

Ah, Fox 6, I love you for pointing out fallacious arguments.

Anyway, don't ALL presidents see a dip in approval rating after they get elected? This isn't all that surprising...especially when you consider what is on Obama's plate compared to some other points in history with less wars, less economy crisis, etc..

[Bond]

Originally Posted by Jason1

The American people dont know whats good, They Elected president Bush twice, proving my point.

And the fact that Nickelback is popular also proves my point.

[manasecret]

Originally Posted by Fox 6

Thats why they elected Obama?


You cant say that without de-validating every choice they have made.

You cant have your cake and eat it too.

But he can have his crow and eat it too.

Zing!

[Vampyr]

So American people are showing that they would rather Pres. Obama did nothing than anything he's done so far. Interesting.

President ratings always seem to drop like that within the first part of their terms. Reason being that the population seems to give them a grace period - even people who didn't vote for him will be like "Well he's a knew guy coming in, might as well give him a chance." It's impossible to actually please everyone, though, so that will drop. I saw some poll results recently that showed the number of American's which approved of him at the some percent of those which voted for him, so I think that says some good things.

But yes, the majority of Americans are pretty stupid, so approval polls aren't a good way to judge how good a job someone is doing, either for good or bad.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Vampyr

President ratings always seem to drop like that within the first part of their terms. Reason being that the population seems to give them a grace period - even people who didn't vote for him will be like "Well he's a knew guy coming in, might as well give him a chance." It's impossible to actually please everyone, though, so that will drop. I saw some poll results recently that showed the number of American's which approved of him at the some percent of those which voted for him, so I think that says some good things.

Thats an interesting point.

Bond, are there any comparisons on Rasmussen comparing Obama's drop in popularity to other past Presidents? That would likely be a more telling statistic.

That aside, the number regarding his disapproval and the sudden drop in approval do seem to coincide with the ramping up of the Healthcare Debate with a side of continued job losses, but without comparison thats more logical conjecture than real correlative evidence.

EDIT: I found a neat article on this very subject. I recommend reading the whole thing.

Obama began his presidency at 68. He hit 69 the following day. That means he's dropped 16 points since day one.

So in less time than Carter, Obama has fallen more.

And Obama's bad numbers are fairly uniform. In the past day alone, NBC News/Wall Street Journal and the Pew Research Center have shown similar results.

Both W. Bush and Bill Clinton reached the low 50s sooner than Obama. W. Bush hit 53 in March; Clinton hit 51 within a month of his inauguration. But W. Bush and Clinton began their presidencies with approval ratings about 10 points lower than Obama. And indeed, Obama has therefore fallen faster than W. Bush as well.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/art...ter_97703.html

But yes, the majority of Americans are pretty stupid...

Stupid enough to vote for Obama, I guess?

Americans like Obama = American smart!
Americans angry at Obama = Americans STUPID!
Who run Bartertown = Master Blaster run Bartertown!

[BreakABone]

Yeah I was going to point out that Obama started his presidency with rather high approval rating so his drops seem bigger even though it is about the same (numerical as past Presidents)

Also, I had a discussion with Bond on the polls itself... and welll...

[Bond]

I honestly just added in the Obama-centric polls because they were on the same page on Rasmussen's website as the first graphic. I found the first graphic to be more interesting. Only months after Democrats were elected by huge majorities, Republicans, generically, out poll Democrats on almost every major issue. That is, at the least, odd.

Personally, I don't pay polls much heed, or regularly follow them, or endorse their selective methodology. Rather, I just found this specific poll thought provoking.

[Typhoid]

I don't pay attention to polls of any nature, really.
But I took it upon myself to conduct my own survey.
Conveniently, I forgot to copy my source link.