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Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bald Eagle who wrote (10580)	4/6/2009 4:33:17 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 103300

The Rump isn't happy.... Re: Pew Poll showing political polarization (though still strong overall approval totals for the Prez....) Yes, I saw that poll this morning, and I also saw this blogger's comments about the poll results. They seem to be the best conclusion about 'what those numbers mean' that I've seen yet: The Rump Isn't Happy 06 Apr 2009 12:52 pm Pew reports: Barack Obama has the most polarized early job approval ratings of any president in the past four decades. The 61-point partisan gap in opinions about Obama’s job performance is the result of a combination of high Democratic ratings for the president — 88% job approval among Democrats — and relatively low approval ratings among Republicans (27%) Peter Wehner pounces: It became apparent quite early that bipartisanship was a fictional commitment for Barack Obama; shutting Republicans out of negotiations and promoting what ranks among the most left-wing domestic agendas in our lifetime was all the evidence some of us needed. Apparently most of the rest of the nation understands that as well. Er, most of the rest of the nation? The percentage of Republicans approving of Obama at this point is almost identical to that approving of Clinton in 1993. And it seems obvious to me that this is not a reflection of the president, but of the opposition. Republicans are historically far more hostile to presidents of the opposite party than the Democrats. And this year, as Obama clearly reached out, and as Fox/Limbaugh/Drudge went into near parodic outrage, it's clearer than ever who is responsible. Check out the Independent vote. That's what matters. TrackBack URL for this entry: typepad.com BaldE, the PEW Poll itself (from the link you posted) seems to confirm those very facts. This is directly from the Pew Poll: Looking at presidential “approval” among self-identified partisans over time reveals growing polarization over the past two decades. For example, in the mid-1970s, 56% of self-identified Republicans approved of Jimmy Carter’s presidency at this point in his term. Similarly, 55% of Democrats approved of Richard Nixon in mid-March of his first term. Fast forward to Reagan and Bush 41, and we see Democratic approval sank to 41%. Over last 20 years support has declined even more. Only 26% of Republicans supported Bill Clinton in March of 1993, while 36% of Democrats approved of George W. Bush. President Obama’s approval levels are only 27% among self-identified Republicans. At the same time, presidents’ support among their own partisans has edged up – but not that dramatically. Average presidential approval for U.S. presidents from Nixon to Clinton was about 80% among their own self-identified partisans. By contrast, George W .Bush’s approval among Republicans in March of his first term was 87%, while Barack Obama’s standing with Democrats is at 88% according to Pew. Pew concludes: The growing partisan divide in presidential approval ratings is part of a long-term trend. Going back in time, partisanship was far less evident in the early job approval ratings for both Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. In fact, a majority of Republicans (56%) approved of Carter's job performance in late March 1977, and a majority of Democrats (55%) approved of Nixon's performance at a comparable point in his first term....

To: Bald Eagle who wrote (10580)	4/7/2009 10:26:51 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 103300

Partisan divide, or shrinking GOP? April 07, 2009 Categories: Polls by Ben Smith, POLITICO politico.com Some Pew poll analysis suggesting that Obama is an unusually partisan figure -- with sky-high approval from Democrats, and historically low support from Republicans -- drew some attention here and elsewhere yesterday. Nate Silver offers an alternative explanation for his bad Republican numbers: The Republicans, in particular, have lost quite a bit of support over the past several years; those persons who continue to identify as Republicans are a hardened -- and very conservative -- lot. Just 24 percent of voters identified as Republican when Pew conducted this survey in March, which is roughly as low as that total has ever gotten. The pollster seems open to that explanation, which -- in its political form -- is the lesson that wrecking the opposition party is preferable even to bipartisan harmony.