Fox ratings

[tpaschal30]

It sounds like you are saying that one must either be an extremist or ill informed. Having been called by one of the Rasmussen surveys, I can tell you that I said I somewhat approved of Obama's presidency.

Are you saying 70% are extremist or ill informed? What are the other 30%, road kill?
I think the important part is the shift in the #s who strongly feel either way. Strongly disagreed moved 20% points and strongly agreed moved about 10%. That is nearly a 1/3 of likely voters who have changed their view some in 4 months. You could also view it as 20% who doubted have had those doubts confirmed and 10% who were sure, are now not so sure.

[Raymond Little]

It sounds like you are saying that one must either be an extremist or ill informed. Having been called by one of the Rasmussen surveys, I can tell you that I said I somewhat approved of Obama's presidency.

Well imagine that!

[Henry V]

Not sure if more are "collected" there, but I can guaruntee you more are "spent" there!!

Sorry to inform you that your conclusion is not supported by the facts presented in the linked documents.
Most of those red counties get more federal tax money back than what they pay and most of blue counties pay more than they get back. If you want to present some actual data to present your point of view, please, do.

[road kill]

Sorry to inform you that your conclusion is not supported by the facts presented in the linked documents.
Most of those red counties get more federal tax money back than what they pay and most of blue counties pay more than they get back. If you want to present some actual data to present your point of view, please, do.

No, I don't, just like you didn't.
I know in WI, the counties that vote for Obama have the highest unemployment rates, the lowest per capita income, the highest crime rate, the highest state and federal spending and are also the most densely populated areas.

That would be Kenosha, Racine, Madison, LaCrosse & Milwaukee.

It's too hot to search and put it up.
(OK, I am too lazy to search it, wouldn't matter anyway, I understand that this is what most of the people want)

So you can pretend otherwise if you wish.
But, it's kinda hard to collect taxes from people with NO jobs!!

[Matt McKenzie]

It sounds like you are saying that one must either be an extremist or ill informed. Having been called by one of the Rasmussen surveys, I can tell you that I said I somewhat approved of Obama's presidency.

Of course I don't mean that at all. What I mean is that a huge portion of our population is either disinterested and simply parrots what they are told in the few soundbites they get from TV news. Many who approve of president Obama disapprove of most of his policies, but aren't informed enough to understand that. Many who disapprove of Obama can't articulate why, either.
The fact is that (like every President), his approval numbers are slipping. I think the disapproval numbers from conservatives have mostly remained constant and the real decline is from either those on the FAR left who are disappointed that he isn't more liberal or those who actually thought they would financially benefit from his election (the "now I don't have to worry about my car payment" crowd). And of course there are folks like you who lean to the left who maybe aren't completely satisfied with the job he's doing, just like there are those of us who lean to the right that were disappointed in many of George Bush's policies.

[YardleyLabs]

Are you saying 70% are extremist or ill informed? What are the other 30%, road kill?
I think the important part is the shift in the #s who strongly feel either way. Strongly disagreed moved 20% points and strongly agreed moved about 10%. That is nearly a 1/3 of likely voters who have changed their view some in 4 months. You could also view it as 20% who doubted have had those doubts confirmed and 10% who were sure, are now not so sure.

Actually, I tend to think that strongly approving, approving, disapproving, and strongly disapproving are all potentially thoughtful opinions. In addition, each opinion may reflect no more than a knee jerk reaction. It depends on the person. However, I do believe that those who condemn persons with opposing viewpoints as idiots and cheats are telling us more about their own lack of judgment than they are about those "idiots and cheats."

Or am I misunderstanding. By "road kill" were you referring to the individual to whom I was responding? I don't think anywhere near 30% of the people would agree with his positions.

[Bayou Magic]

Simply click on the link provided before at http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ..._tracking_poll and read Rasmussen's own description of the poll. Specifically it states:

"The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 33% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-four percent (34%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -1." [emphasis added]

I assumed that everyone knew that was how Rasmussen did his index since he states it in every poll. To see his full results, which show a 54% approval rating, go to http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ..._index_history. Note that Rasmussen consistently shows a lower approval rating than other major polls by 3-5% which is presumably associated with methodological differences.

Jeff,
You are absolutely correct in that this poll only measures strong positives and strong negatives. I interpret that to mean that about a third of voters strongly disapprove and roughly the same number strongly approve. The other third are disinterested and uninformed. The only real information to take away from this is the trend. We'll see if it continues.

Jeff and Hook,

Ya'll are not correct when you state that this poll measures only strong positives and strong negatives, and that the ratings ignore everything in between. That simply is not correct.

The index is a trend indicator that is the sum of strongly approve and strongly disapprove. The ratings do take into account responses other than strongly approve and strongly disapprove.

Anyway, all of this is nothing but a smoke screen for the real issues.

I would like to see an unbiased measure of how media bias influences poll outcomes. If impartial journalism existed in the media, what would be the perception of the masses regarding the current president's policies and performance?

fp

[Jacob Hawkes]

MCCain won Louisiana by a big margin so, I can't believe we are now blue. That is unless a bunch of illegals have moved here.

One just can't believe any of the polls because we don't know which way they are paid to be slanted.

LOL. I was calling BS on that too.

It's simple people. Bobby Jingle is the answer. Best republican politician since Reagan, if not longer. He more or less has to shape the party. He's the next president regards.

[tpaschal30]

Actually, I tend to think that strongly approving, approving, disapproving, and strongly disapproving are all potentially thoughtful opinions. In addition, each opinion may reflect no more than a knee jerk reaction. It depends on the person. However, I do believe that those who condemn persons with opposing viewpoints as idiots and cheats are telling us more about their own lack of judgment than they are about those "idiots and cheats."

Or am I misunderstanding. By "road kill" were you referring to the individual to whom I was responding? I don't think anywhere near 30% of the people would agree with his positions.

I think I misunderstood. I'm with you, I think those with strong opinions tend to be that way based on info or misinfo. At least I hope so. By Road Kill I was making a joke about middle of the roaders. A politician once said"the only thing in the middle of the road is yellow stripes and road kill" or dead possums. Something like thay anyway.

[BonMallari]

LOL. I was calling BS on that too.

It's simple people. Bobby Jingle is the answer. Best republican politician since Reagan, if not longer. He more or less has to shape the party. He's the next president regards.

Its actually JINDAL......and you cant be serious....