Julian Zelizer: Why Obama's Poll Numbers Have Sunk
[Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of"Arsenal of Democracy" and a book on former President Carter to be published next fall by Times Books. He is also the editor of a new book about former President George W. Bush to be published next fall by Princeton University Press.]
President Obama's supporters have been frustrated about the apparent paradox of this administration. With the recent passage of historic financial regulation legislation, many Democrats are having trouble grasping why his approval ratings still lag and why Democrats might lose control of the House in the fall elections.
Supporters say the economic stimulus bill, education and health care reform, and now financial reform, should have Americans looking at the White House with the same admiration they had for President Roosevelt in the 1930s or President Johnson at the height of his success in 1964 and 1965....
Americans continue to complain that Washington is broken.
What explains this paradox? How should we understand the fate of a president and a party who have been relatively successful at passing their agenda, yet don't seem to be enjoying an electoral bounce?
The quick answer is, of course, jobs....
Read entire article at CNN.com
Supporters say the economic stimulus bill, education and health care reform, and now financial reform, should have Americans looking at the White House with the same admiration they had for President Roosevelt in the 1930s or President Johnson at the height of his success in 1964 and 1965....
Americans continue to complain that Washington is broken.
What explains this paradox? How should we understand the fate of a president and a party who have been relatively successful at passing their agenda, yet don't seem to be enjoying an electoral bounce?
The quick answer is, of course, jobs....