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NBC/WSJ Poll: Obama At 53% Approval

Good news for President Obama. Is it good news for progressive policies? Time will tell.

Open Thread.

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    A stronger approval rating (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by KeysDan on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 10:49:27 AM EST
    may be used by the president to stand-up to the Republicans or to stand-up the Democrats and take the Republican's stand.   My worry is that for Democrats, especially any to the left of center-right,  President Obama will break more hearts than  psoriasis.

    Obama's approval rating in 2009 (none / 0) (#21)
    by Buckeye on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 03:55:52 PM EST
    was in the low 70s early in the year and averaged mid 60s throughout the year with historic majorities in the house and senate.  We got Romneycare and a stimulus plan loaded with tax cuts.  I do not know how the 53% with a repub house and functional control of senate (if not actual) is going to be much of an improvement.

    Parent
    I fully expect (none / 0) (#29)
    by cal1942 on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 10:14:52 PM EST
    that Obama and his crew will take the poll number the wrong way.

    Parent
    And then there's this: (5.00 / 3) (#4)
    by Anne on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 10:50:19 AM EST
    From David Dayen:

    Another section not covered in the NBC poll featuring a surge of support for President Obama is Social Security. We know pretty well that the President is hashing out some kind of response to Republicans on deficit reduction for the State of the Union. Again, with this poll resurgence he probably feels a bit pleased with where things stand at the two-year mark of his Presidency. What's clear in the NBC poll is that the deficit is not nearly as important as job creation. And a separate poll from Celinda Lake shows that Social Security cuts would have a severely bad effect on the President's electoral chances:

    President Barack Obama's apparent willingness to consider cuts in Social Security benefits may be winning him points with Washington elites, but it's killing him with voters, who see the program as inviolate and may start to wonder what the Democratic Party stands for, if not for Social Security.

    That's the conclusion of three top progressive pollsters who spoke to reporters Wednesday at a briefing sponsored by the Economic Policy Institute, the Century Foundation and Demos.

    "For the public, cutting benefits is the problem, not the solution," said Guy Molyneux, a partner at Hart Research Associates.

    [snip]

    In the Lake Research poll, 82% of Americans oppose cuts to Social Security to reduce the deficit, and 67% oppose cuts to get the program to solvency. 69% oppose raising the retirement age. And 66% (including 59% of Republicans) support raising the payroll tax cap to bring the program into balance. The progressive positions on Social Security have 2/3 support or better in the country.

    This is the poll finding that should scare Democrats:

    Who will better handle Social Security?
    Republicans vs. Democrats in Congress: 31% (R) to 28% (D); 34% both the same
    Republicans in Congress vs. Obama: 33% (R) to 26% (Obama); 31% both the same

    This is the first finding that Republicans are more trusted on Social Security since the 1930s. Obama's trust rating is below George W. Bush on this front.

    Not quite as rosy a picture, is it?

    wow. that is really telling (5.00 / 2) (#7)
    by ruffian on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 11:14:48 AM EST
    and should send shivers up the Dem spines. (I optimistically assume they have spines)

    Parent
    Quick comment (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by christinep on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 12:00:43 PM EST
    Celinda Lake, among others, is highly trusted among insider Democrats (DC staffers, DNC, etc.)

    Parent
    Highly Trusted? (none / 0) (#11)
    by CoralGables on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 12:27:32 PM EST
    or the go to polling outfit for getting the polling results you want?


    Parent
    Well I doubt they wanted those results (none / 0) (#12)
    by ruffian on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 12:28:37 PM EST
    on the SS trust issue.

    Parent
    With all due respect (none / 0) (#18)
    by CoralGables on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 02:59:57 PM EST
    I'd say that's exactly the result they were looking for. The poll was paid for by a K Street Lobbying firm called StrengthenSocialSecurity.

    Parent
    I meant the Dems would not like (none / 0) (#20)
    by ruffian on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 03:49:39 PM EST
    being equally distrusted on SS as the Republicans. Didn't know who paid for it.

    Maybe it some dimension of chess I don't understand. I just can't tell anymore.

    Parent

    I can't usually tell either (none / 0) (#22)
    by CoralGables on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 03:59:30 PM EST
    I generally glance at the numbers and then leave the crosstabs for andgarden to decipher, but in this case the crosstabs aren't included in the release. One thing I did notice which had me in google meltdown hunting for the crosstabs, they broke down their results into 4 political groupings: Democrats, Independents, Republicans, and Tea Party.

    Parent
    This is a messaging issue that will quickly (none / 0) (#24)
    by AngryBlackGuy on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 07:16:58 PM EST
    resolve itself then.

    If an overwhelming amjority favor retaining SS without cuts and the GOP is the side that will press hardest to make those cuts, the poll reflects and ignorance of the GOP position, and something that will be resolved as soon as this budget fight begins.

    It's not scary at all. It actually represents an unexpected place where Dems can improve their standing.

    People don't seem to understand that the Dems are the ones who will give them what they want.  Given the Fox spin, that isn't surprising, but they can't hide on that issue for long.

    Parent

    I'm beginning to think you may have a (5.00 / 2) (#27)
    by Anne on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 08:03:48 PM EST
    serious comprehension problem...

    It isn't the GOP that has been blathering on about "fixing" Social Security, or "strengthening" it - it's your president, for heaven's sake - your Democratic president.

    Where have you been?

    The people he named to the Deficit Commission  Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles: entitlement-haters par excellence.

    The Dems are the ones positioning to make cuts and changes in Social Security - and there are only so many months Obama can be out there talking about this before people begin to believe it is not Dems who will safeguard Social Security and Medicare.

    Duh.

    You're right about one thing: there is a messaging problem, and it's that the Dems are sending the wrong message, one that is so antithetical to long-standing Democratic principles as to take one's breath away.

    As long as Obama and his appointees are out there sharpening their knives on this, the harder it will be to convince anyone that Dems will protect these programs.

    Parent

    I don't (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 11:23:48 AM EST
    know that I've even seen a President who's approval numbers were so worthless. They don't translate into anything really.

    I have no idea what this means (none / 0) (#25)
    by AngryBlackGuy on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 07:18:01 PM EST
    poll numbers traditionally translate into votes.  

    Parent
    No (none / 0) (#31)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Jan 21, 2011 at 06:53:08 AM EST
    they obviously don't as witnessed by what happened last year.

    Parent
    No (none / 0) (#32)
    by jbindc on Fri Jan 21, 2011 at 08:42:42 AM EST
    Not two years out.  Poll numbers mean nothing at this point, especially votes.

    Parent
    Recovery? For some... (5.00 / 2) (#14)
    by CST on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 01:21:34 PM EST
    While men lost a lot of jobs in this recession, women are the ones being left behind in the recovery.  Why?  Mostly because of government jobs.  The numbers here are astonishing.

    "Although women lost nearly one in three of jobs cut between December 2007 and December 2009, they have gained back only about 1 in 10 of the jobs added during 2010"

    "Women make up about more than half of all government workers, but they lost 86 percent of the 220,000 jobs cut in that sector during 2010."

    emphasis mine.  No explanation given in the article as to the discrepancy.  But that seems shockingly high to me.

    oops (none / 0) (#15)
    by CST on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 01:21:50 PM EST
    Well (none / 0) (#19)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 03:42:52 PM EST
    that might be one reason for Obama's problem with working class women.

    Parent
    He had a good couple of weeks (none / 0) (#1)
    by jbindc on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 10:33:24 AM EST
    He'll get another small bounce after the SOTU.  Then reality will set in and we will see where it goes from there.

    Depends on what "is" is (none / 0) (#2)
    by NYShooter on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 10:42:22 AM EST
    Any fundamental understanding on what makes a President popular, or if not popular, at least seem competent, is "getting things done." If you'll recall, Both Presidents Reagan & Bush 2, ramming one damaging program after another through Congress, received high grades from the public. "He says what he means and means what he says." Showing strength has always been a winner for a President.

    Even if his "success" is suicidal for most of the country.


    Actually (none / 0) (#6)
    by CoralGables on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 11:00:56 AM EST
    Midway thru his first term, Reagan had a 37% approval rating according to Gallup.

    Parent
    considering that Obama's "progressive" (none / 0) (#5)
    by kempis on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 10:58:45 AM EST
    supporters have followed Obama to the right, even lauding the HCR as a "progressive triumph," I think these are not good days for progressivism.

    The only thing I see happening is that, possibly, people will begin to think of the center as the left. Can't see how that helps the country enact legislation to shrink the wealth gap, improve the safety net, increase regulations to safeguard the health and well-being of the environment, communities, workers.

    So...no. I don't think Obama is doing much at all for the cause of progressivism. He's redefining it, but I think pretending that the "reforms" passed thus far are progressive is ultimately damaging to the term.

    HCR (none / 0) (#26)
    by AngryBlackGuy on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 07:19:18 PM EST
    is a progressive triumph.

    I know you are but what am I.

    I was great at that game too.

    Parent

    then Romney is a progressive (5.00 / 1) (#30)
    by kempis on Fri Jan 21, 2011 at 06:02:22 AM EST
    as was the GOP's HCR plan in 93.

    Parent
    Please explain (none / 0) (#33)
    by jbindc on Fri Jan 21, 2011 at 08:43:23 AM EST
    How HCR is a "progressive triumph".

    500 words or fewer, please.

    Parent

    Not progressive "truimph" (none / 0) (#34)
    by Politalkix on Fri Jan 21, 2011 at 04:49:41 PM EST
    but a tug in the progressive direction, IMO.

    Parent
    Politalkix is absolutely right. (5.00 / 1) (#35)
    by Yman on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 01:20:49 PM EST
    Obamacare is a tug ...

    Parent
    And 70% of Americans... (none / 0) (#9)
    by Dadler on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 11:40:05 AM EST
    ...still believe that an omnipotent God literally exists.

    So, uh...

    Who is William DeJean? (none / 0) (#13)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 01:16:46 PM EST
    Other than the biggest PUMA ever :)  I just saw a commercial on CNN that he is paying for.  Talk about love.

    It's (none / 0) (#16)
    by lentinel on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 02:36:33 PM EST
    telling, at least to me, that it is considered a good thing when only half of the country thinks that the president is doing a good job.

    I wonder (none / 0) (#17)
    by lentinel on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 02:41:38 PM EST
    how much of his boost in popularity was his, as Jon Stewart Freudianly put it, posing as consoler-in-chief. That was worth a week of looking presidential.

    Now, as jbindc puts it, reality will once again set in.

    And I live amongst them (none / 0) (#23)
    by ruffian on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 05:07:12 PM EST
    Letter to the editor in today's Orlando sentinel:
    For two years, the liberal progressive Democrat Party had total control of Congress and the White House. During this time, we were made aware of the most brutal and arrogant display of power ever witnessed.

    This movement has been making progress slowly over the past years because its final goal has been hidden.

    With the election of Barack Obama, the party decided to take a giant step toward its goal and come out in the open. The public has become aware of what is going on and decided to act. Hence, the Tea Party movement.

    The result, in November, was a historical shellacking of the Democrat Party.

    Everyone should be aware that the liberal progressive party is going back underground.

    Its first move was to take advantage of the Tucson tragedy by the liberal press blaming conservative talk radio, Sarah Palin and the Tea Party for this horrendous act.

    The desired effect was predictable. It created a move from both the left and the right to become more civil in our political rhetoric, going so far as to call for mingling both parties' seating arrangement for the State of the Union address.

    All this is to make Obama look good in the grooming process for the 2012 election.

    Are these progressives really that clever?



    Vital to American society (none / 0) (#28)
    by cal1942 on Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 10:04:24 PM EST
    President Barack Obama's apparent willingness to consider cuts in Social Security benefits may be winning him points with Washington elites, but it's killing him with voters, who see the program as inviolate and may start to wonder what the Democratic Party stands for, if not for Social Security.

    Social Security isn't just important to the Democratic Party as their signature program it's important to the health and well being of American society.

    How ANY Democratic Party candidate for public office doesn't understand this is beyond me.

    Amazing he has the gall to scold actual Democrats.

    All of this was clear in the primaries and with it the feeling that he would eventually damage the Democratic Party.  The poll numbers indicate that damage has been done.