Politics
1.Ramesh Ponnuru points out that Obama's job approval ratings have been remarkably resilient given the circumstances and that they have moved within a very narrow range (from the mid 40s to the low 50s) for almost two years now. Up until now, Obama's Real Clear Politics job approval floor has been 44%. This week his job approval average has dipped below 44% for several days. Pretty much every voter who isn't powerfully tied to the Democratic Party (and some who are) are not approving of Obama's job performance. I haven't seen crosstabs on the most recent polls (including the ones putting his job approval at 41%), but I suspect that his job approval numbers among whites are spectacularly low. Ponnuru is still right that Republicans should assume that they will need more than just a warm, non-scary body to win in 2012.
2. Dear People Who Schedule Republican Presidential Debates,
Could you please stop scheduling these debates up against new episodes of World's Dumbest?
Sincerely,
Pete
Might the "disapprove" number include some Lefties/ Democrats who are frustrated by his "moderation"?
Richard, sure (though I look more at the approve than the disapprove number.) Also, when thigs start going bad,rats jump ship in such a way that the rat can blame the politician rather than the political narrative the rats has bought into (yeah, I know rats have to suddenly develop political narratives for this metaphor to work but...) Some of the poeple who are presently not approving of Obama are going to vote for him in 2012 absent some unforeseen disaster.
Hey Pete... Here is a quote from your hero's, Paul Krugman, article in the New York Slime this a.m.:
What would a real response to our problems involve? First of all, it would involve more, not less, government spending for the time being — with mass unemployment and incredibly low borrowing costs, we should be rebuilding our schools, our roads, our water systems and more. It would involve aggressive moves to reduce household debt via mortgage forgiveness and refinancing. And it would involve an all-out effort by the Federal Reserve to get the economy moving, with the deliberate goal of generating higher inflation to help alleviate debt problems.
Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. Have the Federal Government spend more money to improve the economy. We did that - we are broke now and getting more broke by the minute. I believe those shovel-ready jobs that the brain trust in the White House claimed would come about when Congress approved his stimulus package kind of did not happen. RIght? Krugman is a dingbat. He makes Edith Bunker look line Einstein.
cowgirl, the Edith Bunker line is priceless, but why do you mis-characterize Pete as a a Krugman-fan?
Mis-characterize? Pray tell. Pete loves Krugman. He gets a little perturbed at me when I make fun of the guy.