Uh-oh, another bump in Obama's approval rating; that's not a story the Beltway press wants to tell

[babylonsister]

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201001200009

Uh-oh, another bump in Obama's approval rating; that's not a story the Beltway press wants to tell, cont'd

January 20, 2010 9:04 am ET by Eric Boehlert


Boy, talk about being off-script. Today is supposed to be the day for the press to wallow in the collapse of Obama's first term; to pronounce his presidency a failure in light of the Massachusetts defeat Tuesday night.

But wouldn't you know it, the AP goes and releases a poll that shows Obama enjoying a robust 56 percent job approval rating. Technically, that's not a bump, since the same AP poll had Obama at 56 percent last month as well. But the results are certainly good news for Obama, considering that 56 percent practically doubles the approval rating of Obama's predecessor during his second term. That 56 percent also puts Obama comfortably ahead of where Ronald Reagan was at this juncture of his first term, and just about where Bill Clinton stood 13 months into office.

But that's not the story the press wants to tell, so look for the AP results to get scant coverage. Because as we've seen for months now, only the polls that show Obama's popularity declining are deemed to be truly newsworthy.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Reality doesn't matter. They create their own.

[kirby]

2. Do you want change or a popular President?

I mean who gives a shit about his popularity if he is not the change agent we voted for?

[babylonsister]

3. I sure don't want to kick him to the curb after only his first year. Do you?

And I sure don't want the media to ignore certain stories because they don't fit their agenda. That's precisely what's been happening.

Might be okay with you, but I appreciate MM for telling it like it is. Sorry if you don't.

[kirby]

4. No, but I want the fucking change I was promised...

I wanted a transformational President who was going to tackle the tough challenges facing this country. A President who was going to take the opposite side of many of the Bush abuses of power.

My point is that the Presidents popularity is not a good measure of anything but his popularity. If that is the yardstick, he can finish his 4 years being popular via lofty rhetoric but not actually deliver on real change. I am not fine with that.

[bahrbearian]

7. +1

[polysciguy420]

6. but, but, but...

Good point, but the lack of change going on in this country can hardly be attributed to Barack Obama. The likes of right-wing nut jobs such as Beck, Limbaugh, and Hannity, and their hordes of idiotic followers are the real people hampering political change. I believe that if given the time Barack Obama can institute many new policies, which is one of the reasons the conservatives view him as dangerous. If they did not view him as such they would not attack him on every level in the way they do in an attempt to undermine his credibility. In this sense his popularity is immensely important as it is quite difficult for an incumbent to be re-elected with under 50% approval ratings. Real change will not be able to take place until Barack Obama captures the 2012 election and the conservatives know this, and based upon their actions they are scared as hell of that prospect.

[Bullet1987]

15. I AGREE!!!

I'm getting tired of the constant posting of poll numbers. They don't mean shit right now. This country is failing, our leaders are failing to provide us with what we need, corporatism has this country in a death grip...literally. I'd rather have a somewhat unpopular President that changes the country, than a popular President that changes little. You could even make the argument though that major changes may even boost his popularity.

[Clio the Leo]

5. Yeah .... but I would ignore it starting Friday...

.... he may take a bit of a dip .... but I would LOVE to be wrong.

[Jersey Devil]

8. Yes, I think people will always like him, but they may vote against him

At some point people will have to aseess Obama's presidency and even if they like him personally they may be forced to vote against him if he has not been an effective president.

As a fictional icon once said, "It's not personal. It's strictly business." Sometimes life has a funny way of imitating art.

[Milo_Bloom]

9. WHEW... thought the dems lost a critical senate seat

.. not to worry, the approval rating will save us all.

[uponit7771]

10. But but but...Obama....CORPORATIST PONY!!!!

[bigwillq]

11. All well and good.

Obama is a popular political figure. But that doesn't accomplish the things that need to be done.

[slipslidingaway]

12. The title is not accurate as they point out further down, but it makes a good headline ...

"...Technically, that's not a bump, since the same AP poll had Obama at the same spot last month as well..."

:shrug:

[freddie mertz]

13. That's a nice poll result. But it changes nothing that happened yesterday. nt.

[otohara]

14. We Can Thank MSM - Including MSNBC

with ushering in Brown and the teabaggers.

For a network that worked pretty hard to prop up Obama, they are working overtime to tear him apart - with exception to KO, ED and RM

[totodeinhere]

16. Obama is personally popular in Massachusetts too. But that didn't stop the Dems from getting beat.

I'm afraid that the same thing will happen in November across the country if Obama doesn't start delivering the change that he promised during the campaign. Obama's personal popularity doesn't necessarily translate into electoral success for Dem candidates.

[Jakes Progress]

17. So what good is a popularity contest

if it doesn't translate into actually doing something. (Please don't list the twenty tiny little things that he's done. That's actually embarrassing. We're talking about the change that people voted for.)

All this just reinforces the image of Junior High. Who's more popular? Do you like him or really like him? Check yes/no.

Meanwhile the world goes on and things take place while so many just want to be in the popular group. I like the man too. When I see him and Michelle, it looks good. It feels good. But that little tingle won't get us health care, the criminals of the bush adm. prosecuted, out of war, jobs.

Who cares who is more popular. It's nice to feel all dreamy about your man, but give me someone who actually can do something, actually knows how to make change happen in life more than in the speeches that make us feel so good.