85% of liberal Dems give Obama a positive job performance rating

[Kaleva]

December 1, 2010 10:39 AM

"According to Gallup's latest weekly tracking poll, 81 percent of self-identified Democrats give Obama a positive job approval rating. Among liberal Democrats, who are supposedly the most likely to rebel, the number rises to 85 percent."

"His job approval rating among African Americans is currently 89 percent, and it has not gone below 85 percent at any point of his presidency."

http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.org/strategist/2010/12/why_obama_wont_face_a_primary.php

If the above numbers continue up to the 2012 primary, then it's going to be very, very hard for a progressive challenger to mount anything more then a token and ignored by the media campaign.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. The stupid... it burns...

Something is screwy. I don't know anyone who thinks Obama doesn't suck, and I live in one of the bluest bastions in the country.

Just weird.

[BzaDem]

4. Why do you think the representative sample is the outlier, rather than your group of friends? n/t

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. Nobody...

...I know voted for Nixon....

[OhioBlue]

7. In my world - I don't know of any Dems that have given up on him

and certainly none that think he sucks. (in real life - I mean... of course on the Internet there are many).

I know of one independent that voted for him for sure that has switched and is now anti-Obama. But, I honestly don't know of any Dems that have.

We're more pissed at the Republicans, embarrassed that Boner is from Ohio, incredulous that Palin gets the coverage she does and worried for our State. Ohio just elected Rs to all Statewide offices, lost 5 Congressional seats and handed redistricting over to the Rs. Things are gonna suck in this State with crazy-corrupt Rs running everything for the next 4 years.

[MannyGoldstein]

8. I guess Mass. Democrats are different

After all, Mass was the only state to vote for McGovern vs. Nixon.

I guess we need to educate the rest of the country.

[BzaDem]

13. 82 percent of Massachusetts Democrats approve of Obama.

So perhaps it is a few small areas in Mass that need to be educated, instead of the rest of the country. (Though certainly not the state as a whole, as you can see here.)

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_MA_1203424.pdf

[Name removed]

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[BzaDem]

41. A) When did I say that? B) How does Scott Brown's win AT ALL diminish the results of the poll?

PPP says 82% of Massachusetts Democrats support Obama.

PPP also said Brown would win by 5%. Brown won by 5%.

Doesn't Brown's margin of victory SUPPORT the accuracy of the poll I quoted?

[JamesA1102]

15. And voted for Scott Brown to replace Ted Kennedy. nt

[Kaleva]

17. What about Scott Brown?

[OhioBlue]

22. Well, I'm sure Mass Democrats are different.

btw - I'm in rural Ohio. Wish I was in your place sometimes. I'm sure it would seem like a complete liberal oasis. Man - just the starting point of a conversation has got to be completely different. Perhaps Ohio Dems (especially those of us in rural areas) are more pragmatic and understand compromise. Some of us are surrounded by Rs, at times represented by all Rs and learn how to get some stealth wins on issues. Maybe that is part of the difference in our experience with our fellow liberals/dems.

It would be fun to change places for a week. Tho, I have a feeling, it would be a heavenly vaca for me and I would feel bad for you - especially if you tried to "educate" everyone here. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't go over so well... I haven't even been able to convince my vain, immature sister-in-law on medicaid that the taxes on tanning beds weren't an evil Obama plot... freakin' crazy - huh? (btw - she's been a rabid RWer since I met her a couple of years ago, tho I doubt she actually votes).

[beforeyoureyes]

24. I am a mass dem, and I dont know anyone who still can stand him

Granted, I am drawing from my progressive circle of friends...but very liberal democrats here are ready to bolt the party.

[BzaDem]

26. There are ALWAYS "very liberal democrats" who are "ready to bolt the party." The point is that with

Obama as President, we basically have the lowest such number in 50 years. (Republicans have a similar group. This is nothing new.)

[JTFrog]

54. Or get over yourselves.

Or hang out in some different crowds.

Just sayin....

[Kaleva]

12. The only Dems that I know of that are very upset with Obama are on the internet

I don't know of any personally that are. The Repubs I know didn't like him before he was sworn in and like him less now.

[tammywammy]

77. Same here. n/t

[Clio the Leo]

10. You might want to make some friends OUTSIDE of DU, love. nt

[pscot]

11. Do your black friends think he sucks?

Believe me, there's a real issue there. No Democrat is going to get elected President without the black vote.

[JamesA1102]

14. Maybe you need to get out of your bubble

and actually listen to people who disagree with you.

[boppers]

18. You live in a place where "rich" and "democrat" are not contradictory?

MA's always confused the heck out of me, it's supposedly liberal, but kept electing country club trust fund babies into politics.

[catgirl]

39. Funny, all the MA dems I know like him

Perhaps your reality is different than most peoples.

[polmaven]

59. That is my experience too,

The real dems I hang with are realistic enough to know that he is really doing MOST of what he promised to do during the campaign. There have been some things he was unable to get done as well as we (or he) would have liked, but that is real life.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

47. I know -- I can smell you from here.

[Fruittree]

50. You need to expand your circle of friends...

[Phx_Dem]

61. Just the opposite for me. Everyone I know is happy with him.

In fact, the only people I hear bitching constantly are progressives on DU and cable.

[pocoloco]

2. Dems are out in 2012 anyway.

All those united citizens and their black boxes have the Dems doomed.

It's not because they weren't warned.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[BzaDem]

5. Why do you assume the 85% are engaging in "cult worship?"

[Hello_Kitty]

9. I have many problems with Pres. Obama but when called by a pollster I say I approve.

And I was polled 3 times during the election season.

[Lorien]

30. I do the same. They seem to register a disapproval of Obama as an approval of the GOP

so I lie and say that I generally approve of his performance. After this last week I won't do that any longer.

[Bluenorthwest]

64. So do I. Pollsters do not get honest answers.

They are all trickters who should be lied to.

[Uzybone]

16. will the true "left" now smear liberal democrats?

they've already started sneering at the Obama "base" of minorities and young people.

[BzaDem]

19. Not really. Most of the people you mention are still solidly behind Obama. Sure, the group has had

a lower midterm voting turnout than presidential turnout for every election in decades, but that doesn't affect Presidential turnout.

[elocs]

20. My guess is that Obama's positive job performance rating is not 81% here at DU.

That, or the Dems here are not Liberals.

[BzaDem]

21. I would question how one could call themselves "liberal" yet still enable Republicans at the ballot

box. But regardless, you are correct that Obama's job performance certainly is not 81% at DU.

[OhioBlue]

23. or that we are not a representative sample of all Liberals. n/t

[Kaleva]

44. Certainly not a representative sample of liberal Democrats.

[beforeyoureyes]

25. Here is a poll I put up...the majority (very small sample obviously) want him challenged in 2012

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9686146

[catgirl]

36. Wow. Impressive poll of 29 people

Alert the press.

[jefferson_dem]

52. I would wager that your last statement is about half true.

Trolls. (No, i'm not accusing anyone in particular).

[Lorien]

27. Who are you going to believe; Gallup or your lying eyes (and ears)?

I don't know ANY Liberal Democrats who are happy with Obama right now. DLCers, yes, but not actual Democrats.

[BzaDem]

29. Doesn't that just mean your sample is completely unrepresentative? n/t

[Lorien]

31. No, it's obvious that theirs-and yours-is.

look around.

[BzaDem]

32. You remind me of a study where people with incorrect beliefs about reality, when confronted with

data disproving their beliefs, double down and believe their incorrect beliefs EVEN MORE.

In this case, you are presented with data from a reputable pollster whose data (within a reasonable margin of error) has been objectively confirmed by election results for decades.

Yet instead of revising your beliefs to accept reality, you double down on your wrong beliefs about approval of Obama, and claim you are right and everyone else is wrong. How is that not a textbook example of being in denial? How is that any different than Republicans claiming that all the polls and election results must be wrong, because everyone THEY know loves Bush?

[David__77]

28. It's a sad situation.

There is very little time to turn things around.

[Name removed]

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[BzaDem]

34. You want to know who will actually be undergoing a rude awakening?

People like you, once the Republicans you enable at the ballot box take office.

People in 2000 said the same thing about Bush and Gore. In 2004 they ran to the polls to elect pro-war Kerry. Your acceptance of reality is inevitable -- it's just the timing that's up in the air. People can only inflict so much political pain on themselves before they are forced to see reality by their very survival instinct.

[slay]

46. I disagree

i won't be intimidated into voting for a shitty Dem nor will i feel guilty about voting my conscience. if more people would do the same we could actually get someone good for once.

[BzaDem]

48. Yeah, you will. Nader voters said in 2000 said the EXACT same thing.

I'm not saying you would necessarily acknowledge it now, but you will eventually vote for Ben Nelson if that's what it would take to remove Sarah Palin. It's just a question of how long it would take to let reality sink in. It only took a year or two in Bush's case for most Nader's voters to snap out of it.

At a certain point, you wouldn't be able to sleep at night (probably after you realize your vote cost hundreds of thousands of additional lives in wars number 3 and 4). But you would probably snap out of it long before that even.

[slay]

49. No, I will blame the Dems as I well should

and there is nothing you can say to make me feel otherwise. I can only take being betrayed for so long. If we can't get a good Dem, then i won't vote blindly on party. I am NOT that kind of Dem. I'm comfortable with my choice. I wonder how you'll sleep at night knowing choices like yours lead to ineffective at best - criminal at worst - Dems like Obama, Ben Nelson, shit like that.

I WILL WRITE IN DENNIS KUCINICH BEFORE I EVER VOTE FOR BEN NELSON no matter what. Go ahead - vote for shit you don't believe in - I can't stop you and you can't make me vote for it. Lets see how this works out cause I PROMISE you I will never vote for a corporate Dem. Those days are done for me. Go recruit someone else to your sad, sad cause. It's time to stand for what we believe in and this shit that's happenin now with these current Dems aint it.

[BzaDem]

53. Oh I'm not trying to recruit you. As I said, reality is the recruiter here (and it does a good job).

You'll "stand up for what you believe in," and after seeing just exactly how that works out for you, you'll come crawling back next time and vote for the Democrat.

As I said, I don't expect you to acknowledge this now. But things will start to look very differently in a few years, and you'll be back. You can continue promising you won't be, but I won't believe you, so we'll probably just have to agree to disagree about your future actions.

[frylock]

35. people here have openly admitted that if polled they would rate his job as positive..

i'd do the same, and i'm one of his biggest critics.

[BzaDem]

37. Most people actively complaining here would not do the same. The odds are that if one is willing to

vote against Obama in the general election, they are not going to say they approve of his performance in any poll. Sure, there may be a few exceptions, but they are just that (exceptions).

[frylock]

42. i don't give the righties any ammo..

i'll defend obama to the death while debating right wingers. i keeps it real when i'm here on the DU. i suspect that applies to many people here that are disappointed with president obama thus far.

[BzaDem]

43. Well if you aren't giving the righties any ammo, then you obviously wouldn't enable them in a

general election.

It's the people who would proudly vote for a non-Democrat who are claiming they are a non-negligible portion of the party.

[elana i am]

38. that actually makes sense to me

sometimes i want to scream 'i voted for kucinich why didn't you!?!?' but in truth i realize that us progressives are still years from being an influential group.

[CakeGrrl]

45. So now Dems can be openly called "stupid" for supporting Obama on DU nowadays?

Great environment going here.

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

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[Union Scribe]

55. Just because they say they're liberals

doesn't mean they're paying attention. 15% clearly are.

[BzaDem]

57. Or perhaps the 15% are clearly wrong? n/t

[Dr.Phool]

56. Dupe

Been posted 8 million times in the last three days.

Keep wishing.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Luciferous]

58. None of the liberals I know approve of Obama.

[Kaleva]

63. People tend to associate with those of like mind and interests.

[ibegurpard]

66. you think everyone just made all their friends in the last two years?

:eyesroll:

[BzaDem]

67. More likely that people who are perpetually unsatisfied will make friends with others who have a

tendency to be similarly unsatisfied at any elected President the country will ever have.

[ibegurpard]

68. did you pull a tendon with that one?

[BzaDem]

70. No, it's actually pretty obvious. When people complain about Obama not prosecuting Bush

when in reality, there will never be a President who would even consider prosecuting Bush, that's basically the definition of being perpetually unsatisfied.

[Kaleva]

73. No but your friends would most likely view President Obama's...

actions or inactions the same way you do. If, for example, you and your friends held the view that Bush and members of his administration were war criminals while he was in office and they ought to be charged with such crimes, then it'd be no surprise if all of you feel angry at President Obama for not prosecuting them.

[Bluenorthwest]

71. Which would explain why the more conservative handfull here

don't know any GLBT voters or supporters. They are 'like minded' with the anti-equality faction, which includes Obama, Palin, Biden, McCain, Kaine, DuBois, and all manner of 'like minds'. They do tend to avoid those they do not see as equal, they even seek to make sure the law always treats us as less than human. It is well known that prejudiced people associate with 'like minds' which is a nice way of saying they discriminate and live lives that weed out all who are not also holding a bunch of religious and neurotic views against certain minorities.
You alsmost never see a conservative or religious person out meeting those who are unlike themselves, you are most correct about that. During the primary, Obama was asked to name one gay person he'd known and he could not remember the name of a teacher he'd had once who was 'one of the good ones' basically. Yep, they avoid us. They put up walls of separation, they call the walls 'God' then they worship that division as holy.

[whistler162]

60. They must all be "Blue Dogs"...

only explanation!

[Phx_Dem]

62. So much for not pleasing the "base." n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

65. How's his approval among those who support equality?

I mean, some call those who spew religious dogma against GLBT people 'liberal' but I sure don't. I also note that Prop H8 won due to Democrats who voted for it. Liberal? Hardly.

[impik]

69. So what? The fringe here hates him and that's what matters

[Bluenorthwest]

72. Folks who hurl the word 'hate' like a nerf ball

So you hurl the word 'hate' at those who merely criticize politics. What word do you use for those who openly oppose the equal rights of others? If a criticism is 'hate' then what is open opposition to equal basic human rights for some minorities?
Of course, you will not reply. And that silence speaks very loudly.

[Jennicut]

74. Once again, and I think everyone here knows this, DU is not representative of all Dems as a whole.

I live in CT and his approval here by liberal Dems is quite high as well.

[Kaleva]

75. It's not even representative of liberal Democrats as a whole.

Which isn't a bad thing but people here ought not get the idea that an opinion or view which is popular here at DU is also popular with rank and file liberal Democrats in general.

[Jennicut]

78. Yup. I will readily admit that even my liberal point of view is not always the mainstream Dem

point of view.

[NYC Liberal]

76. Well, I know where that other 15% is hiding out... nt

[CitizenLeft]

79. I only know of one person who wouldn't vote for Obama...

...who calls herself an active leftist. She didn't vote for him in 2008 either. She doesn't believe in voting. She's a radical libertarian who's much closer to Ron Paul than she would ever admit. She hates Obama. She hates education. She hates any form of capitalism - ANY form (yet she's an avid consumer who continuously buys "things" as if they grow on trees and are not a by-product of the hated "capitalism").She hates the U.S. - yes, truly does, as opposed to Michelle Obama, LOL. So... yeah. There's the one.

Every single other liberal or Democrat or liberal Democrat - moderate or Independent, for that matter - that I know still backs him. They may be annoyed about one issue or another that didn't go their way, or hasn't been addressed to their satisfaction - OF COURSE. But vote for a Republican, or not vote at all, which is a vote for Republicans? NEVER. Never ever ever. Not a single solitary person - except for the one mentioned above - would so masochistically mutilate their own interests in such an irresponsible way.

[Kaleva]

80. I know of a elderly lady who is a socialist with DU stickers on her garage wall

I asked her about them and she said she's been a member here for a long time altough she rarely posts. Her opinion of President Obama is quite low but she doesn't think highly of Democrats in general.