Matt Yglesias

Obama More Trusted on Issues Across the Board

From the new WaPo/ABC poll:

The ability of the GOP to avoid concern-trolling from the media has been pretty impressive. You might think, ex ante, that offering blind, root-and-branch opposition to the popular agenda of a popular president would be a path to political disaster. And, indeed, the evidence suggests that blind root-and-ranch opposition to the popular agenda of a popular president is making Republicans very unpopular. But they have, at least, succeeded in mostly getting to press to cover their obstructionism as a problem for Obama rather than for them.

15 Responses to “Obama More Trusted on Issues Across the Board”

1. Nick Patterson Says:
   June 28th, 2009 at 1:54 pm

   But don’t presidents usually score better than
   Congress on this kind of question? I seem to remember
   that even when Bush’s popularity was 30% max, Congress
   still did worse.

   Nick Patterson

2. James Robertson Says:
   June 28th, 2009 at 1:59 pm

   Two things:

   – First, the media loves Obama, and tends to side with him. That doesn’t mean that they are colluding, but it does mean that they’ll go with the more favorable interpretation first

   – Second, this favorable view won’t hold up when unemployment stays high through the mid terms and the rest of the first term

   The economy simply isn’t going to come roaring back the way Obama seems to think it will with the level of control over the private sector he’s exerting. As happened in the 1930’s, an awful lot of money is going to sit on the sidelines and await more certainty.

3. Joel Says:
   June 28th, 2009 at 2:07 pm

   “The economy simply isn’t going to come roaring back the way Obama seems to think it will . . . ”

   Sorry, I missed this. Where did Obama say that the economy is going to come roaring back?

   Cite please.

4. Scholar in Training Says:
   June 28th, 2009 at 2:10 pm

   A common criticism of this type of poll is that Congress *always* has pitiful approval numbers. Not surprising that a sitting President would be higher.

   On the other hand, it is a nice reminder that the blind opposition to Obama hasn’t raised GOP approval numbers much.

5. Why oh why Says:
   June 28th, 2009 at 2:11 pm

   There’s no big mystery, Republicans are going to oppose everything then declare Obama failed (in 2010, then again in 2012). They can’t do anything else, whether Obama is popular or not.

6. ron Says:
   June 28th, 2009 at 2:12 pm

   Trusting a politician is a fool’s game.
   Constituents shouldn’t trust, they should demand that politicians act in their interest and protest when they don’t.
   Obama talks a good game but often doesn’t walk the walk. He betrayed the public on FISA, on his handling of the banking meltdown, on torture investigation and probably more to come.
   The correct response is to complain loudly and often.

7. James Robertson Says:
   June 28th, 2009 at 2:13 pm

   Where Obama has said that the economy will come “roaring back” is in his fantastical budget projections. They compare favorably with those from Bush in terms of accuracy and honesty.

8. Dave Says:
   June 28th, 2009 at 2:21 pm

   I think both are wholly unprepared for Terrorim.

9. am Says:
   June 28th, 2009 at 2:26 pm

   > But don’t presidents usually score better than Congress on this kind of question?

   Precisely. Yglesias’s posting is pure kool-aid for the rubes.

10. Adam Says:
    June 28th, 2009 at 2:36 pm

    Where Obama has said that the economy will come “roaring back” is in his fantastical budget projections. They compare favorably with those from Bush in terms of accuracy and honesty.

    The accurate and honest Bush proposals that I’m sure you were deriding with equal enthusiasm.

11. Peter Says:
    June 28th, 2009 at 4:25 pm

    Scholar in Training is spot on. Congress always lags the president, so a poll taken out of context like this means nothing. A historical review of Congress v President would be useful (and indeed may even show the same results). Yglesias knows all this, but he’s stealing a page from Fox News and is too busy making a point to care about being fair and balanced.

12. wiley Says:
    June 28th, 2009 at 4:52 pm

    No shit.

13. jonnybutter Says:
    June 28th, 2009 at 5:38 pm

    Congress always lags the president

    If the GOP as a whole were popular nationally, but congress polled as unpopular, you would have the point you want to have. But context matters, rubes. And it is remarkable that the MSM covers this political story in the perverse way it does – as if it’s Obama who is in trouble. Get it?

14. Adam Says:
    June 28th, 2009 at 5:55 pm

    Congress always lags the president, so a poll taken out of context like this means nothing.

    Congress does usually lag the president. But you can ask more specific questions. The R2K weekly poll, for example, asks specifically about people’s opinions of congressional Democrats (43 positive/49 negative) vs congressional Republicans (14/71), so you can get a grasp of who’s dragging the overall number down. Just among independents, it’s 39/53 vs 6/77.

    The view on the parties as a whole, by the way, is 49/43 for Democrats, 25/70 for Republicans. 46/40 vs 16/77 just among independents.

    So I would hope that’s appropriate context that means something.

15. DTM Says:
    June 28th, 2009 at 7:01 pm

    Um, people should click through to the polling sheet. For the economy part of the relevant question, they provide comparisons to Bush II versus the Democrats in Congress, Clinton versus the Republicans in Congress, and Bush I versus the Democrats in Congress. It turns out to be very much NOT true that the President always outpolls the opposition party in Congress.

    For example, right before 9/11, Bush II had already slipped behind the Democrats in Congress. That reversed in the next couple polls, but by early 2004 they were ahead again, and that continued for the remainder of Bush’s time in office. Clinton also spent a period in 1994 and 1995 behind the Republicans in Congress, and Bush I was behind the Democrats in Congress in 1991 and 1992, except one poll where he barely beat the Democrats 37-36.

    So, no, these results are not a given by any means.