Confidence drops for Obama

And this makes it hard for November. I don't know if the Democrats will hold onto the House of Representatives, but if President Obama's ratings are tanking it does not help the party.

It is not that the public embraces the Republican position, from every poll, the public does not. The Republicans have not been forgotten for putting this country in the position it is in while standing by and saying NO to everyone. The main problem here, for me, has been communication and messaging on this administration's positions and the about face on much from the campaign to voters. The Democrats need all those massive voters that came out in 2008, but the enthusiasm gap is real, they are not excited. That is a real issue.

As I have been writing, November is about the economy/jobs. The Obama Administration dropped the ball on that one. The perception of this administration not doing anything about job creation will be one taken all the way to the polls.

Public confidence in President Obama has hit a new low, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Four months before midterm elections that will define the second half of his term, nearly six in 10 voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country, and a clear majority once again disapproves of how he is dealing with the economy.

And the bottomline is this:

Recent economic developments -- a declining stock market, problems in the housing industry and an unemployment report showing only tepid job growth in the private sector -- may have bruised the president's ratings.

Lastly, the Obama White House needs total re-haul, TOTAL. New EVERYBODY, especially that political and communication team. The messaging on everything has been atrocious coming from the White House and for all the hand wringing, in the end, Barack Obama is head of the Democratic Party, whether he likes it or not. Not head of the Bi-Partisan Party but the Democratic Party and he needs to get that.

Full Washington Post/ABC Poll

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I agree with Eugene Robinson about President Obama's visit to New Orleans

Hurricane Katrina was the one event that unraveled the Bush Administration. This horrible event unmasked what the Bush White House was all about and Bush lost the independent voters for the Republican Party by their uncaring, insensitive, don't carish attitude towards the people of the Gulf Region. We, Americans watched in horror as New Orleans unraveled and the Super Dome became a death trap, all LIVE on television. To this DAY, I will never forget the reporting of Jeanne Meserve, CNN, it was dark, night fall and she literally had to keep it together as you heard screams, cries for help, people trapped in flooded homes, etc. I will never, ever forget her reporting it brought streaming tears to my eyes.

Hurricane Katrina hardened Americans towards the Bush Administration and their total disarray and unpreparedness for what happened. And who can forget as President Bush was in a hangar in Alabama, telling the television crew that, "Brownie you're doing a hellava job." When the reality on the ground was that Brownie was not doing SHIT as FEMA Director. How can one forget how long it TOOK FEMA to get water, food, transportation into New Orleans and the hard hit parts of Mississippi? Who can forget Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans telling the federal goverment to, "Get off your asses"!!

The Republicans with Bush paid a price for their horrible handling of Hurricane Katrina and their lack of empathy and sensitivity. Now, President Obama who blasted the Bush Administration for their reckless handling of Hurricane Katrina, came into New Orleans, yesterday for a quick drive by. When I read he was only going to be there four hours, my first inclination was, "Who set this up?" Especially, when he left to go to a glitzy fundraiser in San Francisco? Obama White House, don't ever do this again. That whole Gulf Region is STILL A DISASTER AREA, it warrants more than a four hour drive by, while you are picking up gumbo, President Obama.

President Obama's brief display of drive-by compassion Thursday in New Orleans was, for me, by far the worst outing of his presidency thus far -- and the biggest disappointment.

I covered Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath -- the flood in New Orleans that drowned a great city, the storm surge in Mississippi that erased whole communities, the devastation, the agony. For weeks afterwards, I had trouble sleeping. I couldn't forget the scenes I'd witnessed or the stories I'd heard.

More than a year later, I covered a Senate subcommittee hearing in New Orleans on the lagging reconstruction effort. I watched as a young senator who was thought to be considering a presidential run -- that would be Barack Obama -- used his Harvard Law skills to eviscerate Bush-era officials for not doing enough to rebuild and revive the Gulf Coast region.
So it was strange and disheartening that Obama would wait nine months to make his first visit to New Orleans as president. It was stunning that he would spend only a few hours on the ground and that he wouldn't set foot in Mississippi or Alabama at all. But worst of all was the way he seemed to dismiss the idea that his administration could and should be doing much more.

I know that local officials say the Obama administration is more responsive and more effective than the Bush administration, but that's not saying much. What says more is that New Orleans still doesn't have an operational full-service hospital. And that an adequate flood barrier is still not in place.

"I wish I could just write a check," Obama said. If that was his message, he should have stayed home. We now know that our government can make hundreds of billions of dollars available to irresponsible Wall Street institutions within a matter of days, if necessary. We can open up the floodgates of credit to too-big-to-fail banks at the stroke of a pen. But when it comes to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, well, these things take time.

I doubt these are the priorities Obama wants to be remembered for.

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Sarah Palin threatening lawsuits

One thing that many can say is this, she is one Drama Queen!!! Truly she is!! Here is the money paragraph:

To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as "fact" that Governor Palin resigned because she is "under federal investigation" for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation. This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law. The Alaska Constitution protects the right of free speech, while simultaneously holding those "responsible for the abuse of that right." Alaska Constitution Art. I, Sec. 5. http://ltgov.state.ak.us/... These falsehoods abuse the right to free speech; continuing to publish these falsehoods of criminal activity is reckless, done without any regard for the truth, and is actionable.

Thomas Van Flein, for
Governor Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin is a public figure. Period. In accepting the VP slot with McCain in 2008, vetting her was appropriate because no one heard of her. Palin put her kids, family front and center, she did that and in doing so families are vetted, too. Don't believe me? Ask the Obamas. Now I don't know why she is leaving her office after only 2-1/2 years, but if there is any indication from that bizarre press conference yesterday, the only thing I can conclude is that she is not one who does well when the heat is up or a fire in the kitchen. In other words, she just bailed because it got too hard. I expect her to make mega bucks, that is the direction she is going and she will get it, but as far as politics she is done.

Politics is a hard ball sport and if you can't take the knocks and know how to fight, then you don't need to be in the game. As we see, she does not.

Read it all here and CBS

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Another poll, Washington Post, puts Obama at 65%

Which makes me question the NBC/WSJ Poll. And now on television you hear the change of Obama being rated at 56% to 65%. In other words, he is at high 60s.

The tempered public outlook has not significantly affected Obama's overall standing, which at 65 percent approval in the new survey outpaces the ratings of former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at similar points in their presidencies. But new questions about the stimulus package's effectiveness underscore the stakes for the Obama administration in the months ahead, as it pushes for big reforms in health care and energy on top of the singular issue of the nation's flagging economy.

Obama maintains leverage on these issues in part because of the continuing weakness of his opposition. The survey found the favorability ratings of congressional Republicans at their lowest point in polls dating back more than a decade. Obama also has significant advantages over Republican lawmakers in terms of public trust on dealing with the economy, health care, the deficit and the threat of terrorism, all despite broad-based GOP criticism of his early actions on these fronts.

With unemployment projected to continue rising and fears that the big run-up in stock prices since February may have been a temporary trend, fixing the economy remains the most critical issue of Obama's presidency -- and retaining public confidence in his policies is an important element of his recovery strategy.

Overall, 52 percent now say the stimulus package has or will succeed in restoring the economy, down from 59 percent two months ago. The falloff in confidence in the stimulus package has been sharpest in the hard-hit Midwest, where fewer than half now see the government spending as succeeding. In April, six in 10 Midwesterners said the big, federal program had already worked or eventually would do so.

And the Republicans? LOWEST VIEW FROM THE PUBLIC EVER!!

The state of the Republican Party remains grim. Just 22 percent of those surveyed identified themselves as Republicans, near April's decades-long low point. Only 36 percent said they have a favorable impression of the GOP, with 56 percent saying they have an unfavorable impression. (Fifty-three percent said they have a favorable view of the Democratic Party.)

Obama has greater than 20-point leads over congressional Republicans in public trust on dealing with health care, the deficit, terrorism and the economy. The margin on the economy has slipped since April, but still remains a hefty 55 percent to 31 percent over GOP lawmakers.

read all of it hear

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White House Cheat Sheet

The Fix by Chris Cillizza



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White House Cheat Sheet

From The Fix by Chris Cillizza



I just spit up my coffee on this one:

Say What?: "From the day Hillary Clinton ended her historic bid for president, Terry worked tirelessly to unify our party around Barack Obama and get him elected president." -- Former South Dakota senator Tom Daschle affirms the Macker's strong support for President Obama.

Yeah, right.

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What to Watch For....

From Chris Cilizza @ The Fix, hey I am a fan....



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Obama's Approval Ratings Are Solid.....BUT.....

The "but" is the country's view on releasing the torture memos and the possibility of what may come...

Barack Obama's performance in the first 100 days of his presidency draws strong public approval in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, but there is decidedly less support for his recent decision to release previously secret government memos on the interrogation of terrorism suspects, an initiative that reveals deep partisan fissures.

Overall, the public is about evenly divided on the questions of whether torture is justifiable in terrorism cases and whether there should be official inquiries into any past illegality involving the treatment of terrorism suspects. About half of all Americans, and 52 percent of independents, said there are circumstances in which the United States should consider employing torture against such suspects.

I expected this. I was a wee kid when Watergate was going on and my parents were fixed to the television, devouring all information from the newspapers. The same is going on, but many are getting their information from the internet and unfortunately some cable news shows.

Barack Obama has a third press conference this week, expect a full disclosure of his position and that of the White House. From there the numbers will shake out one way or the other in the torture matter and possibly prosecution matter of the former Bush Administration.

I believe firmly that this should be dealt with, but remember, Obama is not on that page as many on the left. He released the memos because it was the right thing to do, going after these folks is another matter. He does not want to do it, believes it will be a distraction for the largest hurdle healthcare, and wants to move forward not to play in the mud about what the Bush Administration did. Do I like this analysis? NO, but get ready because that is his position, and I believed AG Eric Holder will have the final say on all this mess.

Now to the poll...

Obama's overall rating remains high, with 69 percent of Americans approving of his job performance. He gets solid marks for his handling of the economy, maintaining a better-than-2-to-1 advantage over congressional Republicans on the issue. Majorities said that Obama has exceeded their expectations in his first three months in office, has accomplished big things and has kept his main campaign promises. Further, public optimism about the economy and the country's direction also remain on the rise since his election, even as few think his major economic initiatives have moved the needle on the nation's flagging economy, their communities or their finances.

This is solid, but I knew the handling of the auto makers would show a negative. We are talking about an institution in this country, one that afforded many lower to middle class Americans to elevate their children and send them to college. If he does not handle the car industry right, he is going to have major problems down the road. You can't lash out at Wall Street with no repercussions, when their greed put this country in the position it is in. You can not glorify the auto industry who has made one disastrous decision after another. We either save the industry or let it go. The same with the banking industry. Can't have it both ways in the end.

But Obama receives less glowing reviews on his handling of the burgeoning federal budget deficit and on immigration issues, where he is at the 50 percent mark, and he gets a negative rating on how he has dealt with the big U.S. automakers.

And finally, Obama gets cred for trying to ease the partisan divide in Washington, though he has not been successful, it is the trying that the public understands. The Republicans could learn some lessons here, their numbers continue in the toilet.

Six in 10 Americans said Obama has kept most of his major campaign assurances, although most said he has not reduced the amount of political partisanship in Washington, as he had pledged to do. At the same time, 90 percent said he is willing to listen to different points of view, and close to two-thirds, 63 percent, said he has brought needed change to Washington.

About three-quarters of Americans see Obama as a "strong leader," as "honest and trustworthy," as empathetic and as someone who can be trusted in a crisis. Six in 10 said he is in sync with their values, and nearly as many rate him a good commander in chief.

Overall, Obama's approval rating is 69 percent. Damn good starting out of the gate.

All the data of the WAPO/ABC POLL is here.

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Polls are with Obama (USAToday, NBC, WAPO/ABC)

Obama made folks mad yesterday about the auto industry, but the fact is that many Americans are standing with him. As we all know, the problems of this economy did not pop up as a surprise, but was there for a very long time. Getting out of all this mess and with many companies now wanting a bailout to sustain, will take time. Not everyone will be saved, look at the auto industry. GM or Chrysler is going to fall and that means with no help from the government into bankruptcy. That is just a fact. While folks may be hopping mad, overall the poll numbers are with Obama.

The number of Americans who believe that the nation is headed in the right direction has roughly tripled since Barack Obama's election, and the public overwhelmingly blames the excesses of the financial industry, rather than the new president, for turmoil in the economy, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

At this early stage in his presidency, Obama continues to benefit from a broadly held perception that others should bear the bulk of responsibility for the severe economic problems that confront his administration. Americans see plenty of offenders, but only about a quarter blame the president and his team for an economy that's in the ditch.

[snip]

Overall perceptions about the country parallel a rapid increase in the percentage of Americans who say the economy is improving. For the first time since late 2004, the gap between the numbers saying the economy is getting better and those saying it's getting worse is in the single digits (27 percent to 36 percent).

Two-thirds of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling the country's top job, and six in 10 give him good marks on issue No. 1, the flagging economy. Those figures are little changed from last month. But he receives lower marks for dealing with the federal budget deficit after submitting a plan that would see continued huge deficits over the next decade. Fifty-two percent back Obama on his approach to the deficit, with the public split about evenly over whether belt-tightening or big increases in spending should be used to try to improve the economy.

WAPO/ABC Poll
NBC Poll
USAToday/Gallup

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David Axelrod gives Bush Folks a piece of STFU (Video)

Who right now, on this planet are willing to listen to any former Bush Advisers? Any hands up? The Republican Party could not WAIT for Bush to exit, he was the albatross on their necks since 2006, and now Rove, Card and company got something to say? After they helped 'eff up this country and put us in the predicament we are in?

Source

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Barack Obama's Op-Ed in the Washington Post, "The Action Americans Need"

This is the op-ed posted today in the Washington Post, here is part of it.

By now, it's clear to everyone that we have inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression. Millions of jobs that Americans relied on just a year ago are gone; millions more of the nest eggs families worked so hard to build have vanished. People everywhere are worried about what tomorrow will bring.

What Americans expect from Washington is action that matches the urgency they feel in their daily lives -- action that's swift, bold and wise enough for us to climb out of this crisis.

Because each day we wait to begin the work of turning our economy around, more people lose their jobs, their savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.

That's why I feel such a sense of urgency about the recovery plan before Congress. With it, we will create or save more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, provide immediate tax relief to 95 percent of American workers, ignite spending by businesses and consumers alike, and take steps to strengthen our country for years to come.

This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care and education. And it's a strategy that will be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability, so Americans know where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent. read the rest here

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Obama at WaPo Editorial Board (Audio)

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Washington Post Endorses Barack Obama for President

Washington Post

THE NOMINATING process this year produced two unusually talented and qualified presidential candidates. There are few public figures we have respected more over the years than Sen. John McCain. Yet it is without ambivalence that we endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president.

The choice is made easy in part by Mr. McCain's disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a running mate who is not ready to be president. It is made easy in larger part, though, because of our admiration for Mr. Obama and the impressive qualities he has shown during this long race. Yes, we have reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr. Obama's relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have enormous hopes.

Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good.

The first question, in fact, might be why either man wants the job. Start with two ongoing wars, both far from being won; an unstable, nuclear-armed Pakistan; a resurgent Russia menacing its neighbors; a terrorist-supporting Iran racing toward nuclear status; a roiling Middle East; a rising China seeking its place in the world. Stir in the threat of nuclear or biological terrorism, the burdens of global poverty and disease, and accelerating climate change. Domestically, wages have stagnated while public education is failing a generation of urban, mostly minority children. Now add the possibility of the deepest economic trough since the Great Depression.

Not even his fiercest critics would blame President Bush for all of these problems, and we are far from being his fiercest critic. But for the past eight years, his administration, while pursuing some worthy policies (accountability in education, homeland security, the promotion of freedom abroad), has also championed some stunningly wrongheaded ones (fiscal recklessness, torture, utter disregard for the planet's ecological health) and has acted too often with incompetence, arrogance or both. A McCain presidency would not equal four more years, but outside of his inner circle, Mr. McCain would draw on many of the same policymakers who have brought us to our current state. We believe they have richly earned, and might even benefit from, some years in the political wilderness. continue

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