REFLECTING ON 2009'S TEA-BAG 'SUMMER OF HATE'

From May 13, 2010

Reflecting on 2009's "SUMMER OF HATE"

I recently heard some middling GOP hack on FoxNews discussing the President's "Ratings Slide," reasoning that such a slide was due to how "out of touch" he was with the "will" of the American people.  So I thought I'd revisit a post that I made last summer to see exactly how precipitous this supposed "slide" has really been since the great Tea-Bag Town Hall Summer of Hate.

Generally, I tend to trust Gallup's polling a bit more than most of the other pollsters, yet I know that the residents of Wingnutistan refuse to acknowledge any information other than what is given to them by the GOP owned and operated outlets.  So, I decided to include the gold standard of polling for Neo-Con ideologues, none other than the 'Ras' itself, as Kos likes to call it.

Between Gallup, Rasmussen and the ever popular Fox News Opinion Dynamics, I'm sure that I'll be able to divine the true feelings of Americans.

FIRST, here's an interesting tidbit for those people who believe that President Obama  DOES NOT represent the "Will Of The People."  Through the exact same time in office, Obama's approval rating is 6 points higher than Ronaldus Magnus, the patron saint of clueless conservatives.  According to Gallup, through 475 days in office, President Obama's approval rating is 50%......Ronald Reagan's was 44%! 

Using Wing-nut logic, these numbers would seem to indicate that St. Ronnie was 'out of touch' as well (something I can't argue with.)  But you wouldn't know it by listening to  Neo-Cons gushing about the man they want to be the next face of the Fifty Dollar Bill.

Ok, back to that precipitous slide, the "cratering" of the approval numbers that the maverick John McCain cheerfully suggested.

Rupert Murdoch's personal favorite, Opinion Dynamics Corporation, had Obama's Presidential Approval numbers at 53% on August 11, 2009 in the midst of the town halls.  His approval ratings as of May 4, 2010, 48%.  A decline to be sure in how people polled by Fox viewed the President, but hardly a "cratering" by any stretch of the word.  One would expect more from the Patriots who watch Fox.

According to the all mighty RAS, Obama's Presidential Approval On July 31, 2009  (the start of the Senate Summer recess and town hall 'Summer of Hate')  was 48%.  Obama's Presidential Approval rating on May 11, 2010 was 48%.  Not such a precipitous slide as the wing-nuts would like us to believe, huh?

Gallup's Presidential Approval Ratings put Obama at 54% on July 27, 2009 and as recently as May 13, 2010 they have him at 51%.  That's a MIGHTY 3 point drop for the President.  Funny, I never hear Matt Drudge reporting on this, do you?

For all the talk about a conservative awakening - and perhaps there has been one after the drubbing they took in 2008 - it would seem that over the 9 months since the town halls, his numbers haven't fallen as sharply as the right wing media would like to suggest.  So maybe the wing-nuts can just shut the F up about the "out of touch" President and his woeful approval numbers that aren't.

Finally, I thought I'd include some other fun facts from Rasmussen regarding how out of touch the President and the Democrats are;

Rasmussen respondents trust Dems more on Government Ethics 35% - 33%.  37% Say Obama More Ethical Than Most Politicians, 35% Say He's Less Ethical.  And, for the first time in over a year of regular polling, Rasmussen voters nationwide say Republicans in Congress are acting more partisan than congressional Democrats by a margin of 62% to 58%.

Fun stuff.



MSNY 05.13.10