Scott Rasmussen: Barack Obama’s First 100 Days ... Will They Lead to Lasting Change?
[Mr. Rasmussen runs Rasmussen Reports, a polling company.]
As Barack Obama’s administration reaches the 100-day mark, partisans and ideologues on both sides are spinning furiously to define what has happened so far and what it means going forward.
Republicans and conservatives try to paint a portrait of declining support and weakness. Democrats and liberals see a president with unrivaled popularity and power. Both assessments are wrong.
As the president concludes his first 100 days in office, his ratings are about where you’d expect them to be: Democrats are strongly supportive, Republicans are strongly opposed, and those not affiliated with either political party are in between. Those on the fence give Obama the benefit of the doubt, and those with doubts hope they’re wrong.
This reality exists not because Obama is a polarizing president but because he is president of a politically polarized nation. If Republicans thought the sky was blue, Democrats would disagree. If Democrats liked morning, Republicans would say the afternoon is better. Most expect the nation’s politics to become even more partisan over the coming year.
Politically, we have become a sports bar nation with partisans cheering for their team in much the same way they cheer for the Yankees or the Red Sox. If an umpire’s call or a pundit’s analysis helps one side, that team’s fans will hail the brilliance of the call or analysis. The other side will whine about its unfairness and question the credibility or integrity of the person making the call. Both sides know the talking points, and both sides are willing to switch their interpretation of the rules whenever it helps the home team.
Some believe that fan support helps sports teams win championships, and others believe that political teams respond to voters. Many simply enjoy politics for the sport of it all while others are frustrated by what they see as a system that is rigged to benefit the insiders.
For a very brief moment, it looked like things might possibly be different with Obama. The president’s team ran a nearly flawless transition process allowing him to enjoy stunningly high approval ratings on Inauguration Day. But within a few weeks, the president’s approval ratings returned to earth amidst highly partisan debates over an economic stimulus plan and a $3.6 trillion budget. The decline was primarily the result of Republicans and a few independents shifting their views from neutral to disapproval.
However, it’s important to note that the president’s numbers stopped declining by early March. For nearly two months, Obama’s job approval rating has remained very stable with a solid level of support—solid, but not spectacular.
An analysis of Gallup data going back to the Eisenhower administration shows that Obama’s 100-day ratings fit right in the middle of the ratings for the 10 presidents who came before him. Still, he’s now doing just a bit better than his immediate predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, after their first 100 days in office....
Read entire article at Rasmussen Reports
As Barack Obama’s administration reaches the 100-day mark, partisans and ideologues on both sides are spinning furiously to define what has happened so far and what it means going forward.
Republicans and conservatives try to paint a portrait of declining support and weakness. Democrats and liberals see a president with unrivaled popularity and power. Both assessments are wrong.
As the president concludes his first 100 days in office, his ratings are about where you’d expect them to be: Democrats are strongly supportive, Republicans are strongly opposed, and those not affiliated with either political party are in between. Those on the fence give Obama the benefit of the doubt, and those with doubts hope they’re wrong.
This reality exists not because Obama is a polarizing president but because he is president of a politically polarized nation. If Republicans thought the sky was blue, Democrats would disagree. If Democrats liked morning, Republicans would say the afternoon is better. Most expect the nation’s politics to become even more partisan over the coming year.
Politically, we have become a sports bar nation with partisans cheering for their team in much the same way they cheer for the Yankees or the Red Sox. If an umpire’s call or a pundit’s analysis helps one side, that team’s fans will hail the brilliance of the call or analysis. The other side will whine about its unfairness and question the credibility or integrity of the person making the call. Both sides know the talking points, and both sides are willing to switch their interpretation of the rules whenever it helps the home team.
Some believe that fan support helps sports teams win championships, and others believe that political teams respond to voters. Many simply enjoy politics for the sport of it all while others are frustrated by what they see as a system that is rigged to benefit the insiders.
For a very brief moment, it looked like things might possibly be different with Obama. The president’s team ran a nearly flawless transition process allowing him to enjoy stunningly high approval ratings on Inauguration Day. But within a few weeks, the president’s approval ratings returned to earth amidst highly partisan debates over an economic stimulus plan and a $3.6 trillion budget. The decline was primarily the result of Republicans and a few independents shifting their views from neutral to disapproval.
However, it’s important to note that the president’s numbers stopped declining by early March. For nearly two months, Obama’s job approval rating has remained very stable with a solid level of support—solid, but not spectacular.
An analysis of Gallup data going back to the Eisenhower administration shows that Obama’s 100-day ratings fit right in the middle of the ratings for the 10 presidents who came before him. Still, he’s now doing just a bit better than his immediate predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, after their first 100 days in office....