President Obama’s poll numbers are in the dump. It looks as follows.
- ABC News/Washington Post Approval Poll 42%
- CBS News Approval Poll 37%
- Fox News Approval Poll 40%
While those poll numbers look bad they do not tell the entire story. The reality is that most Americans are reacting to a caricature of the President and his policies. Charlie Cook wrote the following,
One critical problem is that the administration and backers of the ACA have never effectively drawn a connection in people’s minds between the element they favor the most—that is, not allowing preexisting medical conditions to affect their health insurance rates and coverage—and mandatory/universal coverage, the most despised part of the law. Mandatory coverage brings into the system the young and the healthy, and more importantly, the premiums they pay, which in turn allow and pay for coverage for those with preexisting conditions. That nexus, that trade-off, does not seem to have ever been successfully connected in people’s minds. Unless or until this disconnect is addressed, public acceptance of the ACA and approval of its sponsor will never be achieved.
While what he says is true, he needed to add that there is an all out effort by Republicans aided by the traditional media to misinform Americans about this program and other Obama policies. He needed to state that many of those opposing the ACA do so because the failed system allowed obscene profits by a few.
Charlie Cook makes an important observation. The President’s likeability is at 71%. His ‘care of people’ is at 52%. His ‘has vision for the country’ is at 60%. These numbers indicate that as positive policy outcomes are realized, the impetus for positive poll movement will be there.
Ana Marie Cox breaks it down a bit differently. She breaks the President’s likely poll recovery rational into three reasons.
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Wait till you see the other guy.
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The Republican Party is fighting itself.
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The success stories of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will come out.
Charlie Cook looks at President Obama’s poll from a numerical and statistical perspective. Ana Marie Cox views it from the gut. Charlie Cooks numbers validate Ana Marie Cox’s gut.