Poor Ed Schultz.....reporting that Obama's poll numbers are dropping, like a good soldier!

[FrenchieCat]

Talked about Indies wavering.... :scared:

Than he states that Obama should just do what Ed says he should do or else.

I'm wondering what Ed's DU moniker is?....cause he sounds like quite a few here. :rofl:

[xultar]

1. So don't report it? If the MSM didn't report Bush's drop we'd have screamed bloody murder.

[Clio the Leo]

2. I'm trying to find the "unrecommend" button on my remote! :-) NT

[ej510]

4. He was talking about a slight drop with independents and in the state of Ohio where Vice President

was today. Their internal polling must show the same thing.

[Oregone]

3. I think they may drop faster than "normal"

Obama has won a lot of independents over, and people here should know how worthlessly unreliable that lot may be when they aren't being punctual at their Ron Paul Meet-ups.

The racist right-wing Republicans always will hate him, so if the spending and faux "socialism" scare the media drums up starts turning the independent's heads, they may bolt damn fast.

On the other hand, he is an exceptional orator and has been carefully towing the center, so I could definitely be wrong

[Nite Owl]

6. How do we know

what Independents are being lost? It seems to be assumed that they are 'moderates' or center right but maybe he isn't being liberal enough?
Independents are not necessarily to the right, I know quite a few who are more liberal than most dems.

[Oregone]

7. OK, first off, when talking about "independents", anyone will make mass generalizations

And some of it could be based on CNNs ridiculous focus group graphs or just anecdotal reports.

The independents Ive met are dissident ex-republicans who are insanely tax sensitive and do not like spending money (still, they preferred Obama's style/debates/speeches/policies in the primary). But yeah, who really knows.

[Nite Owl]

11. We'll never know

for sure, no way would they report it!
There are alot of people who when really questioned think they are conservatives but really end up finding out that they were liberals the whole time. They hear reports about liberals spending and spending but never the part about how the GOP has spent and spent--only it wasn't for the needs of the people just their corporate buddies.

[Jennicut]

25. In many polls these same indies are concerned with the deficit and spending. Trust me, they are

right leaning.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

8. Don't you think there are Green Party type Independents

as well as Ron Paul type independents? How many racist right-wing Republicans do you think voted for Obama in the first place? Enough to count on one hand or to be statistically insignificant.

I really don't believe many if any Ron Paul types came over while I can definitely believe that liberal independents came over in droves. I think these could be the people who are being turned off.

[Oregone]

9. Im not sure. If someone is so left of the Democrats to not register as one...

Would they register then as a Green (because they identify with their progressive platform) rather than independent? Would they of voted anyway?

The center is so skewed far to the right in organized politics that many very centrist, tilted-conservative people could generally be registered Democrat (Ive met MANY of these, who are clueless about some basic issues). That would leave those independents a "no man's land" somewhere between center-right (extent of Dems) to extreme fascism (start of Republicans).

Again, who really knows. Maybe my original statement was off and too much of a generalization though. Maybe the independent base is a bit more liberal and forgiving then I make them out to be.

Maybe Obama never had the Ron Paulish fiscal conserv independents in the first place. They may of been too busy stocking up on tea bags to vote.

[frylock]

17. i'll field this one..

I'm a progressive independent, or to be more specific, I mark Decline To State under party affiliation. The reason I haven't registered as a Democrat is because I feel that the party caters too much to the so-called center. That being said, it's my belief that the Dems truly represent the lesser of two evils. The reason I don't join the Green Party is, because of my DTS status, I can vote in Democratic primaries. I was a Green briefly after the 2004 election, mostly as a protest to Kerry's milquetoast approach to his "loss" in 2004.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. Make sense to me.

[masuki bance]

5. Maybe he should just make up numbers. nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. Like Hannity and O'Reilly?

[masuki bance]

22. Sure, whoever. nt

[AllentownJake]

10. Frenchie

I have a feeling I'll be using this new feature a lot.

[Oregone]

12. +1

[LittleBlue]

13. The real problem is that we have 24 hour news channels with about 30 min worth of news

Many see the media as an "enemy", but really they are just desperate for stuff to talk about. There really isn't enough news for 24 hours of programming, so they latch on to completely meaningless stuff like polls. Even if they did cover important topics in depth (the wars, healthcare, etc), you'd have maybe 1-1.5 hours worth of programming.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

14. Funny how the unrec function is working just fine if you want to bury the

critics of the critics.

[secondwind]

18. he rocks!

[jclincali]

19. Attacking the messenger never solved anything.

[bigwillq]

20. Ed's great.

Turn off the TV, Frenchie. For someone that complains, A LOT, about the media, you sure watch a lot of it.

[Drunken Irishman]

26. But if the 'great' guys start reporting the slipping numbers...

Then it becomes accepted and soon people start buying into the whole problem.

Haven't you ever heard of the bandwagon effect?

It's when people join in the approval or support of someone/something popular. If a team is winning a ton of games, its fan base grows rapidly because people want to identify with a winner.

When Obama's numbers are high, it's likely you'll find more people saying they approve of the job he's doing because they're apart of the bandwagon. They start asking, "well he's popular with _ amount of Americans, so he must be doing something right!"

Well there is also a reverse bandwagon effect. It's when people perceive someone to be struggling, so they jump ship. If the MSM continues telling us over and over Pres. Obama's approval ratings are dropping, sooner or later reality will catch up to perception.

It's even more likely than the bandwagon effect. When Americans 'see' that his approval rating is slipping, they start wondering why it's slipping. Then we're told it's slipping because the economy isn't recovering or because he didn't act forcefully enough when it came to Iran or any other thing they try to tag Obama with.

So they start doubting. "Well _ amount of Americans don't approve of him, so he must be doing something wrong!"

It sounds fickle, I know, but America is fickle by nature. I mean, how else do you explain such dramatic shifts politically each four or eight years? Democrats could hold the presidency for four years and then they'll lose it to the Republicans. Republicans can hold it for 12 years -- like from 80-92 -- and then lose it for 8.

The political winds shift fast and when even supposed good guys are saying Pres. Obama's numbers are faltering, then people are going to start believing they're faltering. Then they'll wonder why and then they'll doubt and then they'll become the growing number who say they don't approve of the job he's doing.

The reality, however, is that Pres. Obama's numbers aren't dropping. They've been pretty steady since about February.

But the media doesn't report that. No, if his numbers drop from 65 to 61, he's tanking.

Well I don't consider a four-point drop in a poll tanking.

[HughMoran]

21. Ever notice how the media makes charts?

Instead of showing a chart scaled from 0, they show a chart with 63% as the highest and 59% as the lowest, with no other scaling. It exaggerates the poll numbers the way only a idiot would present.

[Mr. Sparkle]

23. Thats ridiculous, he said that at this stage they were higher compared to both Bush and Clinton.

He literally said that this talk about the poll numbers was ridiculous. His beef with the Prez was, to cut a long story short, is that he will be really pissed of if the boss takes the public option off the table. I guess it was because of Rahms comments.

[Tarheel_Dem]

24. Shut it off Frenchie. I did, and I can't tell you how much better I feel.

What turned me off about Ed early on, is that he tried to give the impression that he had some insider knowledge, or a personal relationship with the president. I don't think that's true, but I could only take Ed for a couple of weeks.

[ellie]

27. Who is Ed Schultz?

[olegramps]

28. The fact is that the Republican base is moving further to the right.

This is not conjecture but fact and a fact that will eventually alienate a larger percentage of Independents. They may win a few points on some issues, but their radical views is what will defeat them. Their most outspoken leaders are becoming frantic and are relying on obstructionism to appeal to their base. They don't dare agree with anything proposed by the Obama administration since their base is consumed with so much hatred that they are willing to destroy the nation rather than be seen as being cooperating with that "B-Bastard". Heath care reform is a major issue confronting the nation. Blue-dog Democrats who oppose needed reforms should be targeted for defeat and replaced with Democrats that actually support the working class and the Party's platform.

[ericgtr]

29. Ed is also a Palin fan - Yes seriously

Anyone who listened to his show last week will know what I am talking about.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

31. His entire tune has changed. Suddenly he is defending BOTH Palin and Michael Jackson

Last week he was hard on them both. This week, it's an entirely different story. Someone at MSNBC must have told him to stop the madness...

He's starting to whine more than Rachel Maddow, and it's on my nerves. While I support what he is saying and fully understand him and Rachel, I can't stand the constant whining. Rachel has gotten a little better.

[niceypoo]

30. So he didnt cover up, ignore or fudge the numbers?

Is that what he should have done?

Not sure what your point is