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Gibbs Dismisses Obama Gallup Drop
White House Press Sec. Robert Gibbs
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White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs scoffed at President Obama's 47 percent approval rating in the Gallup daily tracking poll, the lowest the firm has recorded at this point in a presidency.
"If I was a heart patient and Gallup was my EKG, I'd visit my doctor," Gibbs told reporters in his morning gaggle.
Gibbs said the swing in the poll could be duplicated by a "six-year-old with a crayon" and said he doesn't put a lot of stake in the daily poll and "never have."
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Viva!America!
December 8, 2009 10:27 AM
A comedian this guy. Where does he get this stuff?
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JEP07
December 8, 2009 10:42 AM in reply to Viva!America!
from Jon Stewart
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jolly ranchero
December 8, 2009 10:27 AM
Wait, I dont get it. Isn't he saying we should be concerned enough about the poll to "go see a doctor"? So then why does he then say he has no faith in the poll?
Aren't these completely conflicting statements?
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The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
December 8, 2009 10:37 AM in reply to jolly ranchero
He's saying if respond to statistical noise like it has meaning rather than the trend over time, you'll go crazy.
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jenesq
December 8, 2009 12:54 PM in reply to jolly ranchero
He means that polls have so many ups and downs for no apparent reason that if the trend line were an EKG reading, he'd have an irregular heart rhythm.
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Dorn76
December 8, 2009 10:43 AM
Come on Gibbs, nothing is more critical than these approval numbers. This is particularly true 3 years from the next Presidential election.
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synchronicity
December 8, 2009 11:03 AM
Yeah, I don't put much stock in them either because I am guessing right now they should really be at about 20% after his bonehead, idiotic Afghanistan move
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Dorn76
December 8, 2009 11:34 AM in reply to synchronicity
What would you have suggested, General?
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fbacon2
December 8, 2009 11:49 AM in reply to synchronicity
If the poll were surveying TPM commenters, then maybe.
Also, I believe his approval numbers on Afghanistan are actually a bit up this week, even as the overall numbers are down.
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elle a
December 8, 2009 11:56 AM in reply to synchronicity
idiotic?
enlighten us then, o great one, on what the truly wise move should have been.
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Indie Pro
December 8, 2009 12:35 PM in reply to elle a
you guys do realize there was more than one option to choose from, correct? Like Biden's alternative, etc?
The chorus of options and opinions were part of the reason it took so long for the President to come to his decision.
You act like a second surge in one year was the only choice, which belies what we all just witnessed in the deliberations.
Whether you agree or not with the decision, there was more than one option.
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david1225
December 8, 2009 11:17 AM
I really hope that President Obama ignores these poll numbers. They have absolutely nothing to do with good governance, and offer little, if any, guidance on how to handle the issues of the day. On many of the landmark issues, poll numbers pointed in the wrong direction, including on civil rights and free speech. Public opinion follows good leadership, and not vice versa. Now, granted, in our poisoned political environment, the battle for leadership is often against the most polarizing of rhetoric from the parties, the media, and individual politicians, and finding the "middle way" (which is true both of Zen and politics) often means alienating (at least temporarily) the extremists on both sides. But President Obama, particularly in his decision on Afghanistan, has shown a true ability to lead and rise about partisan strife. Had he been reading political tea leaves, or extremist blogs, he could never have reached his troop deployment decision. He didn't rush, when the Right urged him to rush, and he didn't blink, when the Left insisted on withdrawal. He weighed the options, consulted with a range of experts, and made a thoughtful decision. I may not agree with his decision, but I applaud him for making it. Hopefully, the nation will line up behind him.
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ilovebacon
December 8, 2009 11:39 AM
Perhaps Obama knew that the healthcare reform fight would weaken his polls--that's why he decided to tackle it first. Spending the next year on jobs will strengthen his poll numbers. Put it this way--a good runner doesn't sprint the first lap. He times his accelerandos. One thing Obama has shown is a mastery of timing. The same buffoons who whined about his "wimpiness" and unwillingness to fight back against Clinton, then McCain/Palin, now say that he's "lost the ball."
He's proven us wrong twice. He's smarter than us because he can see the entire picture. We're impatient, demanding action and results right now, like toddlers. Obama is a political genius. He will rebound, to the peril of the pooh-poohing naysayers.
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brewmn61
December 8, 2009 11:50 AM in reply to ilovebacon
I agree with your first paragraph. I think they've gamed out the politics of everything they are doing, and this explains why so many of his policy actions to date have had less than enthusiastic receptions. He's doing the unpopular stuff first.
However, I choose to wait until the results of his policies become clearer before I label him a "political genius." Given that I am constantly arguing that the leftwing screamers need to see how his actions play out over the medium-to-long-term, it is only fair that I not rush to the judgment that what he is doing will succeed, both from a policy and political perspective.
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ilovebacon
December 8, 2009 12:26 PM in reply to brewmn61
Your last sentence is fair and I sympathize with it.
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ericf
December 8, 2009 11:52 AM
It is foolish to ignore the numbers. A lot of the left is growing disgruntled. It's not just Afghanistan, but that coming on top of continuing compromises on health care when Republicans would have sought to change the Senate rules, and that what Democrats should do quite frankly since that house of Congress is utterly dysfunctional. The administration has not only been mediocre on human rights and civil liberties issue,s but completely misses that these issues are core to their base.
So I don't like the falling approval, but Obama is smart enough that I'm hopeful he'll figure out (other Democrats I'm not so sure about) that the drop is from his base, and trying to conciliate the unreasonable right is backfiring. I take the announcement of the EPA's ruling on greenhouse gases at this particular time to be a sign they're getting the message, since that's a very in-your-face gesture towards global warming deniers.
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Viva!America!
December 8, 2009 12:26 PM in reply to ericf
The "base" talks as if they are the only ones that matter. If he does something you don't like, he's trying to please the Right. If he does something that pisses off the Right, he's just trying to pacify the Left. Where does the rest of the country come in?
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jenesq
December 8, 2009 12:53 PM in reply to Viva!America!
For some reason, a segment of the left has this fantasy that Obama ran as an uber-progressive rather than a centrist who pledged compromise. Personally, I am disgusted by their disappointment with him, because that says more about them and their willingness to ignore facts (eg, everything in Obama's platform, which was out there for anyone to read....and just about everything Obama ever said about Afghanistan and Pakistan, which the outraged left seems to have conveniently forgotten) than it does about Obama.
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ilovebacon
December 8, 2009 12:37 PM in reply to ericf
I wish they'd change the rules to overcome the filibuster blockade. But I can understand the political backlash that would occur if they did change it.
The admin. has not been mediocre on human rights and civil rights. KSM is being tried in NYC in a civilian court. That's huge! And it's restored family-planning funds. It's also dropped the term "war on drugs," which went unnoticed, but is huge. And the EPA, as you note, Is starting to kick some butt.
Still, I do think that the recent drop in numbers comes from the left. There was probably a slight boost among centrists, but a huge drop among liberals. It's understandable. But it's short-termed. And the 2011 withdrawal was astute, politically--he didn't say 100% withdrawal, but "beginning" withdrawal. A lot of wiggle room. I actually don't think he wanted to send troops, but McChrystal and the other generals ran around the media barking about the necessity of a surge. Can you imagine the fallout if he had kicked dirt in the generals faces and pulled out all troops? It would get him points among liberals but not centrists and conservatives.
In the end, there are many political verities a (progressive) president has to deal with, pragmatically, if he hopes to get anything done. Do you indulge in an ideological fight that will lead to little, or do you make concessions and compromise in order to enact progressive change (as even FDR had to do)? Obama is a realist and so chooses the latter.
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jenesq
December 8, 2009 12:49 PM
I really don't have much faith in public opinion as an indicator of good policy. I'd rather see Obama be a one-term President and make well-considered decisions than pander to an attention-deficit-ridden population who will forget evertthing by next week and be on to the next big thing.
I'm quite sure the drop in approval numbers comes from the knee-jerk hysterical DKos diarist wing of the Democratic Party, a group that I have no more interest in than I do the teabaggers. Both are afflicted with intellectual dishonesty and overwrought reactionary nonsense.
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Beagle
December 8, 2009 12:54 PM
Not all polls are created equal. Some polls are absolutely meaningless. CNN has a "Do you agree with Amanda Knox's verdict?" poll... well, this poll in the US is most likely to generate a "No" response...should one reach any type of conclusion based on this result?
There is also a poll that suggests the number of Americans who thing climate change is a hoax is up...does these types of polls have anything to contribute to the fundamental science? Some polls are just, well, stupid.
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bobatkinson
December 8, 2009 1:52 PM
Notice that today (Dec. 7) Gallup has Obama at 50% approval vs 45% disapproval. How can a legit poll swing so much in 24 hours?
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jenesq
December 8, 2009 5:22 PM in reply to bobatkinson
Maybe some of the knee-jerk anti-Afghanistan strategy outrage melted away when people calmed down.
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