New Pew poll: Obama's approval at 61%

Conducted June 10-14

http://people-press.org/report/522/

I'll take it.

but if unemployment begins to start dropping consistently then it will get stronger. But the job market is usually the last indicator to show an upswing, so it may be a year or more from now.

He has the most political capital he will likely have now. The big things and controversial things should be done now and quickly. Once the healthcare bill goes through, in whatever version, his numbers will slide some more. This is the opportunity to make real change.

The only thing that would bring the numbers up is a national crisis and his response. There is no doubt that one will come sometime in the next 3 and a half years. No president avoids all national crises. But, that bump will be less durable.

This is why we need quick action.

What if he balances the budget and passes gay rights legislation next year?

It would also help if he would end the Afganistan war and get almost all of our troops out of Iraq by the end of next year.

If many people go back to the labor force and unemployment is checked, his approval have a potential to go back to day 1 levels, IMO.

.... at the rate at which it's improving?

GM?

Serious question. That's what I dont understand.

I will never forget, Karl Rove remarked at some point in January that "who's to say, we'll never know for certain if what Obama does will have improved the economy, the economy could have already been on the path to fixing itself?"

Fixing itself? Nice try Karl.

The GOP knows they're screwed and has known it for quite some time IMO.

real policy - do nothing and the problems will go away, and meanwhile the GOP and friends get rich on stolen government (TAX) money.

Elegant, no?

mark

... but it's true.

I always pay a lot of attention to Rove, Buchannan and Gingrich. Not only for WHAT they say, but how they say things and in response to what. Regardless of what we think about their policy, they are the premier minds of the GOP (and I realize that's not saying much.) But they KNOW how to spin and they can do it well.

So the mere fact that Rove was conceeding that the economy could fix itself was major. We ALL know it couldn't, Rove included, but it was his way of acknowledging future recovery without giving credit to the President.

If this thing plays out like I imagine it will, I predict this to be a major meme of the GOP in 2012.

worship those three guys as the intellectual vanguard of the Republican Party.

That's saying a lot, no?

But they are SERIOUS!!!

Rove is a twisted little slime, Gingrich is poeeibly the worst human on the planet, Bucannan is a totally cynical probably sociopathic piece of trash.

The big 3 of the GOP.

mark:patriot:

and other areas of concern, the act of making those decisions will inevitably open him up to criticism. Even if that criticism is misleading and wrongheaded. And, that criticism will, over time, erode his support. It isn't new of personal to Obama. It is the American Presidency. You can look at the historical approval ratings of presidents for the past 30 years and see the same trend. The upward trends do not come from successful legislation, but reaction to a national crisis.

And, I have no expectations of a balanced budget, wars ending or withdrawl of US troops from Iraq.

The past five months have been spent pushing through an agenda that has caused some concern among many Americans.

You had the stimulus package, which was opposed by a good chunk of the country.
You had the closing of Gitmo, which is opposed by a majority of the country. :eyes:
You had the budget.
You now have healthcare.

These are hotbutton issues that should have driven down his approval ratings because of how divisive they are.

Once he gets them passed and eases into a lull, I think his numbers could rise. Especially if unemployment begins to finally drop.

But, he is still riding the election/Inaugural approval ratings. The are historically high. They are coming down, though. You can see a couple of points each poll.

There is really no way for a president to significantly raise their numbers without a national crisis. He has this opportunity at his highest point to lead the House and the Senate on the most important issues.

Until he is re-elected, I would bet money his numbers won't be this high again, barring a national emergency, which no one wants.

I think they'll most likely dip into the low-50s during this healthcare debate. The Republicans are going to get nasty and it's going to be extremely difficult for Pres. Obama to keep those numbers up once he gets into the pending battle.

However, if he succeeds in passing healthcare reform and things ease up a bit on the national front, I think his numbers could climb back into the high-50s, low-60s.

You're right, the numbers won't spike unless something big develops that rallies the country around Pres. Obama. However, if things stabilize, since he's immensely popular anyway, I think his ratings won't take as near as a dip as Bush's (2nd term), Clinton (1994), Poppy Bush (1991) and Reagan (1982 and '83).

I don't see him going into the same low numbers that others saw. He is too intelligent a politician. I honestly believe, if he keeps going as he has, that he will easily win a re-election. The only thing is, I think his popularity affords him more support and opportunity to advance a liberal agenda than he has pursued so far.

Maybe when his numbers get a little lower, he will play harder ball.

Healthcare, the war, the economy, etc.

He needs to show America that he's accomplishing something big.

He has literally rescued us from a financial hell hole (I know, cause I just had my mortgage modified and I'll tell you that I am not sleeping at night), and is going about performing brilliantly on Foreign Relations.

To give him no credit as of today is really an intellectually dishonest stance on your part.

If we're not getting out of the economic crisis for a while, he needs something else to be his cornerstone.

His approval will drift if the economy does not recover and nothing else has happened.

We're still losing too many jobs to even contemplate labeling this a recovery. You're mortgage went down, that's great, but it's not a recovery.

And, I think he's done quite a bit in trying to fix the economy. Is the stimulus package not something big?

And failing that, something big somewhere else.


This isn't rocket science.

Given what is on his plate.

I think that flame be held under Obama's ass isn't necessarily giving Obama more time, considering what's still on his plate.

I hardly see Obama being flamed to death on the MSM or among regular people.