CNN Poll: Likability helps Obama survive brutal weEK

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama's personal popularity may be one reason he came out of what was arguably the worst week of his presidency with his approval rating holding steady, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/ORC International survey, released Monday, also indicates that Americans see the current controversies as very important, maybe even as much as the Iran-Contra scandal, but they haven't reached the epic levels of Watergate.

And the poll suggests the tea party movement has benefited from the Internal Revenue Service controversy, which involved the IRS targeting of tea party and other conservative groups who filed for tax exempt status, while the controversy over the administration's handling and response to last September's attack in Benghazi, which left the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans dead, does not appear to have affected the public's view of Hillary Clinton, who was U.S. secretary of state at the time of the attack.

...SNIP...

The new numbers indicate that Obama remains popular, with 79% of Americans saying the president is likable.

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/20/cnn-poll-likability-helps-obama-survive-brutal-week/?hpt=hp_t1

[Dawson Leery]

1. Sadly, the teaklan has seen it's numbers improve.

[bigdarryl]

2. It wasn't his worst week because the media

Tried to make it his worst by focusing on bullshit

[unblock]

3. wait wait wait. likeability and approval are positively correlated?

wow, who knew!

[patrice]

4. There's also the possibility that some of us are reacting to the 100% negative characterizations

that we see so often, here and elsewhere.

Absolutes elicit skepticism in me and I'd bet I'm not the only one who reacts to that kind of very likely faulty logic.

Yes, I like PO, but reality is more important to me, so when I see so many absolutely negative advocates, representing ALL things in a single manner: bad, liar, negative, out-to-betray you/me, a sell-out, power hungry, autocrat, hypocrite, elitist, and on and on and on and on . . . I cannot help but think to myself that all of that unequivocally negative absoluteness is, intentionally or otherwise, mistaken. Reality is not like that, so my reaction is to try to restore balance in my perceptions of the truth = I see mostly negative, so I react with openness toward positive possibilities.

It's not about the fact that I like the guy, but more about the necessity of avoiding extreme mistakes or outright lies in how the facts are characterized. The more absolutely negative the information I see around, here and elsewhere, the more I question it, because I know there are rational positives that are possible, just likely being ignored for motives that have to do with something other than the ongoing development of valid and reliable perceptions of a reality that is both negative and positive.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

7. WHOOP, THERE IT IS!!! Brilliant, my friend. Simply brilliant!!

[emulatorloo]

11. Well said. Thanks for posting this

[Grammy23]

5. The Republicans have done everything they can to demonize this man.

They have hyped pure fantasy, outright lied and made stuff up about him. Spread vicious lies and misled the people time and again. They do not want us to like or respect the man.

Their nasty tricks have not worked because people recognize him as a good and decent man. The people who voted for him and support him see through the BS because they trust what they know about him and have seen in him over the first term in office.

They can spin and hype all they want but it's hard to trash a guy who is cool under fire, self deprecating and knows how to laugh at himself. And it doesn't hurt when he takes a few pot shots at his detractors. LOL Sometimes I wish he would do that more. Laughing at your detractors is a sure fire way to piss 'em off. And make THEM look foolish.

[patrice]

6. & They can't make themselves look any better by saying something relatively positive, because

that would fracture the base that they are trying to build. Any positivity on any issue would be taken as cause for desertion by, not only by those lined up against whatever that particular issue is, but also by that issue's supporters, as they would no longer regard negative associations of any kind as useful to promoting their issue.

As long as the body of the electorate is primarily single-issue oriented, they will be lied to about the positives and negatives of any and all political identities. This is commonly referred to as divide-and-conquer.

[patrice]

9. This is also why we never see any vision stuff from that cohort; you know, solution ideas & timeline

s, and steps toward incremental levels of progress, tasking, specified alternatives and decision trees . . . none of that kind of stuff, because it would fracture the negative base that is being built.

That base is pretending that they have NO differences on anything & they are all fully united behind the goal to destroy PO and the truth is that they do have fundamental differences that will cost them dearly, perhaps even terminally, were they to succeed in what they putatively desire: destruction of "the system". All of that may, in fact, be necessary, but it's dishonest not to admit those differences and their possible destructive effects up front, because if (rhetorical) you don't, you're only re-iterating the very thing that you claim to be fighting and taking advantage of the less empowered in the process.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

8. Republicans with the help of many Democrats, too!

[patrice]

12. Authentic centrism is actually more of a threat to more people than some of us are

characterizing it as. A center cannot be arbitrary, because BOTH sides will use ANY invalidity to acquire advantage and we don't have an authentic center. The center is significantly skewed to the right, so what calls itself "the Left" is in danger of being the bigger loser if it allows itself to be played by the Right in this situation. I think some pretty serious people on the Left (whoever they are) probably know this and perhaps they have decided that base building is more important than success on the issues right now. That's their own responsibility to decide; I just think ALL of us need to be more honest about what's going on and the different ways it might play itself out for the forseeable future.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. I agree with you. I didn't distinguish between liberal or moderate Democrats. I think there are

Democrats from all ideological wings that have given this president hell. Everyone has been mad at him for whatever reason. Tells me that he's trying to do the right thing.

[patrice]

18. That's one of the frustrating things about this experience; I actually agree with lots of

Lefties on the issues, but all of my reality-testing alarms are going off because of HOW they are approaching rhetorical tasks associated with those issues here. It seems to me that they are doing the opposite of what they should be doing for their issues in this situation at this time, hurting issue support instead of building it. If true, this means that some advocates are either too naive to be trusted with my support, or there's something more covert going on, intentionally or otherwise. Parties (whichever, Rep, Dem, Green, Independent, all parties) are being treated as though they are way tooooooo much more important than the issues are and that seems a ill-timed approach, when the inertia is so centrist, because (rhetorical) you marginalize yourself AND whatever you would ADD to the discourse that the discourse does in fact NEED, and which may not or cannot come from anyone else but an authentic Left, gets left out because you have marginalized yourself. And THEN a bunch of people are calling all of that "principled" and anyone who disagrees with it, "unprincipled". It all adds up to a self-fulfilling prophecy for failure ON THE ISSUES and no one seems to care.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

19. You articulate very well what's on my mind but can't put into words. Thank you so much!

Very insightful and intelligent.

[patrice]

21. Thank you. I've been interested in this stuff all of my life. I watch and read.

I also have some good activist friends who keep things going here that I can be a part of, issue activities of various kinds, and that keeps me hopeful.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

30. Me, too! Politics has been a lifelong passion.

I admit that I might not know everything but I like to stay on top of things as much as I can.

[allan01]

10. re:CNN Poll: Likability helps Obama survive brutal weEK

they(the rs and some democrats .) are out to get my president . enough said .

[Cha]

13. K&R

[Douglas Carpenter]

14. I think the committed activist on any side misses the likability element in their opponents

I could never really fathom that most Americans actually personally liked Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush for that matter. Their deeply offensive policies had me convinced that they were arrogant, ignorant and simply not very bright and of morally and ethically flawed character. But the fact is most Americans personally liked and still do like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Objectively, like with Clinton and Obama they were personally charming to most people - the vast overwhelming majority of people. I will say that once they left office, I discovered that I didn't hate them anymore. Which I guess means that I never really hated them in the first place. I simply hated them being in the position to determine public policy.

[kelliekat44]

15. How about the "truth" helps Obama survive? nt

[daleo]

16. Or people know better than to fall for pseudo-scandal-mania

Been there, seen that.

[markpkessinger]

20. Thank you! n/t

[Beacool]

22. Republicans never learn.

They tried to destroy the Clintons in the 90s and they are still as popular as ever.

It's good to see that people are smarter than the Baggers think they are. As per the CNN poll, Obama and Hillary remain very popular.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

23. This thread is about Obama.

[Beacool]

25. So?

The whole point is that the Republicans are still trying to destroy Democratic presidents. Chaffetz and a few others keep mentioning impeachment. They did it to Clinton and now they are trying to do it to Obama. They never learn.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

28. Come on, Bea. You admit you never liked Obama

and the point of this thread is how Republicans (and some Democrats) have attempted to tear him down. It has failed! Miserably! Yes, they tried it with the Clintons, too, though Bill gave them reason. They failed but not for long. I still believe to the day that had it not been for Monica Lewinsky--a legitimate scandal--Al Gore would've been president, even without Florida! Bush couldn't run on the economy, so he ran on "restoring honor to the White House". I blame Bill Clinton for that.

[Beacool]

31. Oh, please.........

Blame Gore for Gore's problems. Bill was still extremely popular and Gore refused his help.

You're the one making hay on this post. I was just pointing out that the Republicans tried to run Clinton out of town and it didn't work. Ditto if they try to do it to Obama. He may not be my favorite person, but he won two general elections fair and square and no Republican is going to try to impeach Obama and get away with it.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

32. Gore had problems, that's for sure. But those problems were compounded because he

couldn't run with his philandering president who made him and his cabinet LIE about Monica Lewinsky. I like Hillary much more than I like Bill, and she was most definitely unfairly attacked. But his philandering didn't help matters much. He left office with a high approval rating, in large part, because the economy was doing well. I don't believe for one minute, however, that should Hillary run in 2016, the Monica Lewinsky scandal won't rear its ugly head.

Back on topic: Barack Obama IS the president. He has been an outstanding president. And regardless of the hate coming from all sides, he STILL perseveres. I'm glad we can agree on that point.

[Sunlei]

24. the way todays republicans have crazy-hate, I'm very worried about Pres.O & USA peoples safety.

The R shit-fest is going to draw flies.

[BanTheGOP]

26. The OK Tornadoes are horrible with multiple fatalities. But Obama needs to hit this one hard

He needs to be out in Oklahoma all week, ensuring that the state gets its necessary help, even if he has to override Congress and the idiot OK senators who are trying to deny the aid with executive orders. This will also have the advantage of negating the GOP-caused scandals, making them look like opportunistic fools while the president is getting REAL work done for the people. Highlight the Democrats' caring, ensure that the GOP is properly shown to have prevented proper and necessary disaster relieve funds, and finally, shame the Congress to drop the scandals. Frankly, I hope they put on the farce, so they can show how shallow and transparently political they are; that will guarantee 2014 in our favor. Once we have both the house and the senate, coupled with Obama's liberal used of Executive Orders, we can finish the transformation of this country to eliminate any possibility of republican influence for at least a generation, and most probably forever.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

29. The president knows what he has to do...

...he's not like Dumbya Bush doing a fly over.

[ucrdem]

35. +1

He'll be there.

[JI7]

27. i think most people also know the "scandals" are BS , even though some try to be fair

and will say shit like "lets hear from both sides".

[bemildred]

33. CNN Poll: Likability helps Obama survive another fatuous media "attack".

Revised and more accurate headline.

[ucrdem]

34. It's also possible that the public saw a side of the BO admin they weren't aware of.

National security is an important issue to many voters, largely thanks to the Wurlitzer media, and many people were probably unaware that Obama and especially Holder have actually been paying attention and doing their jobs. Surprise, they're doing it better than the last administration.

Last April Chomsky gave an acid interview to Alternet professing not to know why Obama makes a point of mentioning his leak prosecutions. Well Noam, that's why. But as usual CNN ignores the real issue and misses the point by miles.

[ucrdem]

36. Nate Silver - Is the Economy Saving Obama’s Approval Ratings?

May 21, 2013, 8:04 am 28 Comments

Political coverage over the last week has focused on a series of stories that reflect negatively on the executive branch — but President Obama’s approval ratings have held steady. As of Monday, Mr. Obama’s Gallup approval rating was 49 percent — the same as it was, on average, in April. Mr. Obama’s Rasmussen Reports approval rating was 48 percent, not much changed from an average of 50 percent in April. Mr. Obama’s approval rating in a CNN poll published on Sunday was 53 percent, little different from 51 percent in their April survey. And in a Washington Post-ABC News poll, Mr. Obama’s approval rating was 51 percent, essentially unchanged from 50 percent in April.

There are a lot of theories as to why Mr. Obama’s approval ratings have been unchanged in the wake of these controversies, which some news accounts and many of Mr. Obama’s opponents are describing as scandals. But these analyses may proceed from the wrong premise if they assume that the stories have had no impact. It could be that the controversies are, in fact, putting some downward pressure on Mr. Obama’s approval ratings — but that the losses are offset by improved voter attitudes about the economy.

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/is-the-economy-saving-obamas-approval-ratings/?smid=tw-fivethirtyeight&seid=auto