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Poll shows high approval for Obama Posted: 04:14 PM ET
WASHINGTON (CNN) — More than two-thirds of Americans appear to approve of President Obama’s job performance during his initial days in the White House — an approval rating that significantly exceeds the early poll numbers of his two immediate predecessors.
The new survey by Gallup — the first conducted entirely after Obama took the oath of office Tuesday — found 68 percent of Americans approve of how the new president is handling the job.
Meanwhile, only 12 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama’s job performance so far.
It’s not unusual for new presidents to enter the White House with a high approval rating, but Obama’s is markedly higher than the initial approval numbers for both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush."
When Bush took office he launched an aggressive campaign to deliver on his campaign promise for tax cuts, shutting out any democratic participation in the formulation of the plan and effectively challenging Dems to oppose the plan so that this could be used in future campaigns. In 2004, when he actually managed to win the support of a majority of the electorate, he commented that he had political capital to spend and he intended to use it.
By contrast, Obama has reached out to Republicans in an unusual effort to obtain bi-partisan support despite the fact that he has the votes in Congress to get his way on most issues. In the course of the meeting one congressman complained that Obama's proposals focused too much on benefits for lower income families and contraceptives (not sure how that got into the discussion). Obama, who had campaigned on just that type of proposal pointed out that the election was over and he had won.
Following the meeting, Congressional Republicans were generally reported to have welcomed the effort to involve them in the development of the program and Mitch McConnell indicated that he believed a stimulus plan could be finalized by mid-February as requested by Obama even though there would continue to be areas of disagreement about the size and structure of the program.
"Republican leaders said they are pleased by the tone of the meeting and the willingness of Obama and the Democrats to listen to their ideas.
"I do think we'll be able to meet the president's deadline," Senate Republican leader
Mitch McConnell of
Kentucky said after the meeting." (Bloomberg News)
Most papers reported this as the story. However, the News Corp/Fox outlets focused on a story about the president mocking the Republicans and gloating over his victory. Media bias anyone?
As to being the "laughingstock of the world", we have been that ever since GWB rose to the Presidency. I suspect that the world will continue to worry about us as long as our economy is in the tank and our foreign policies continue to threaten their existence. Obama is viewed as an improvement simply because he's not George. However, that sheen will wear off quickly unless accompanied by some concrete changes.
Originally Posted by YardleyLabs
"Poll shows high approval for Obama Posted: 04:14 PM ET
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