1. Draw some conclusions about the poll. How does this poll measure his administration? In your opinion, where do you think Obama's numbers will go?
2. Is Rasmussen biased? What are the indicators?
(at one point, I hated wikipedia) Comparing Presidents from past and recent history, what conclusions can be drawn comparing the old (FDR-LBJ) to new (Reagan-Obama)
4. Lastly, is it important for a President to be popular? Why?
Drew Holtzapple Period 4
ReplyDelete1. The polls shows the percentage of people that strongly approve of him and the percentage of people that strongly disapprove of him. When he was first elected about 45% of people strongly approved of him and about 15% strongly disapproved. I think that his numbers are going to go down unless something happens that he handles extremely well. I believe that citizens are never really satisfied with what Presidents do unless we are in hard times and he makes some critical change or resolution.
2. Rasmussen is biased in that they have surveyed Democrats more than Republicans. This would lead to a more favorable view of Obama because Republicans don't like him at all. It says that 37% of voters (in the poll) are democrats, 32% republicans, and 30% unaffiliated.
3. Well the older presidents had much higher starting approvals than the more current presidents. Also it seems that every presidents approval at the end is much lower (generally) than when they are first elected. Also for the most part earlier presidents had higher approvals overall than newer presidents.
4. No, I don't think it is important for a president to be popular. As long as they are making decisions that benefit the country they are doing an acceptable job. So if the president makes good decisions popularity will ensue. But it's not a neccessity to be popular. Although the popularity may boost morale and cause better ideas to be created.
Stefon, Period 4
ReplyDeleteThis poll was suspiciously against President Obama, which was also surprising. I didn't think that at this time in his administration it was plausible for such a low approval. The universal healthcare propositions and other legislation he has passed [controversially] may have been too early in his presidency to think he could get away with while still not being fully trusted. I am glad you prompted us to discuss the political bias of the Rasmussen report here. I see a total conservative bias. In fact, the moment the page loaded [with magnificent speed, thanks to Safari] there were embedded ads in the article such as “Say NO to government run healthcare” from Conservatives for Patient's Rights and “Italian suits 100% NOT pre-shredded”. This at first wasn't so much of a red-flag. Then I looked into records of bias in Rasmussen's history and found that they were indeed right-wing biased. Also, that this caused them to become a somewhat unreliable source for polled information. {citing http://talk.livedaily.com/showthread.php?t=674184} So to answer both prompt parts one and two; the Rasmussen reports are incredibly biased and it doesn't measure the administration accurately, nor can one determine what the numbers will show in future polls based on Rasmussen. I did, however find another poll that is from a liberally biased viewpoint. This would normally appear unreliable, but it may tell the truth better than a conservative source. Mostly because if it shows that Obama's supporters don't approve of his administration, then it is reasonable to assume that hardly anybody does. It is a more, though not entirely, direct judgment of what the majority thinks. This was all I could hope to find, as it is no secret that there is no such thing as non-bias in news media. The Wikipedia link was interesting as it is a source that is left inconsistently malleable, to be changed at the will of whomever decides to take action. It states that George Gallup invented presidential approval ratings. This supposedly occurred in the mid 30s. I say, however, that presidential approval was introduced with George Washington's inauguration. The people have always voiced their opinions and supported, or not, the president. Approval and the ability to indicate one's opinion in a visible manner is nothing new from Gallup. Setting this careless inaccuracy aside to view the relevant content of the article, I must say that it was surprising that almost all of the poll results it displayed were those in which the president has at least 50% approval [aside from Rasmussen and Zogby-whatever that is] I am sure that this must be the indication that liberally biased editors have gotten to this page. Regardless of this assumption, the article was [minutely] informative. I now know that there is such a poll named Zogby.
It is important for the president to have a certain popularity, especially during elections. This is because the president's main job in order to be effective is to stay in office long enough to have changed something or to make a difference of any sort. So usually an eight year term is necessary.
Posting from the armchair:
ReplyDelete1) For me, at least, this poll reiterated the obvious. 55% of people say that politics will become more partisan. Well duh. Plus, they found that around 60% or so of everyone is disillusioned with the way the Feds are going. At least half of all people will always be disillusioned with the way the Feds are going. That's just the way it is; no one can please everyone. They also say that his approval ratings are going down. Well folks, that's what happens when politicians don't follow through with their proposals fast enough for everyone's tastes. And I'm not taking a jab specifically at Obama or the Democrats; every single freaking politician out there has done this.
[As a side note, I found the first graph exceptionally amusing. As the number of people that disapprove go UP *gasp* the number of people that approve go DOWN! Amazing!]
2) Yeah, the numbers don't quite come out evenly, like Drew said. Although, it probably is difficult to get a representative sampling, so I'll cut 'em some slack (I feel nice tonight). But seriously, that whole website has the GOPs greasy fingerprints all over it. I noticed the little supportive quotes at the top, first. The Politico, Susan Estrich, among others. Politico tries very hard to be centrist, but they lean right. Susan Estrich goes on Faux News a whole lot (though she supported Clinton, didn't she? It is a mystery).
3) Boo! Hiss! Wikipedia! But seriously, I have to concur that older presidents had overall higher approval ratings than the newer ones. They started out higher, at least. But, like an improperly parked car in San Francisco, they eventually went downhill (for all presidents). I think that's pretty obvious, personally. People will love the guy/gal when they're first elected because they're idealistic and nauseatingly hopeful. See my disillusionment comment above.
4) If the president is a true politician, then it is very important for him/her to stay popular. All politicians care about is getting reelected (let's be realistic here, people). At the very least, it's their first priority. You, with few exceptions, have to be popular in order to get reelected. However, if said politician actually cared about the direction of the nation, he might have to make tough decisions, which would be unpopular. Kinda like how parents lay down the rules for their kids, 'cause they care about 'em.
@Drew
I like how they claim to have surveyed more Dems than GOPs. It's almost like they want to tell us that SEE, SEE, OBAMA IS EEEEVIL 'cause even HIS OWN PEOPLE don't like him! Like a subliminal thing or something.
@Stefon
I like your last note about how presidents need 8 years to get stuff done. That's why I'm a fan of 2 year terms for presidents. They can't do anything, therefore they won't screw anything up like usual! [I'm about 65% kidding.]
On a final note, "Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." -- Douglas Adams
~Heather "wow that was a novel" Williams
Nicole Lucas Pd. 4
ReplyDelete1. This poll just showed how both parties disagree completely. Like the Democrats view the health care reform bill as the top priority, while the Rupublicans have it last on their priority list. This just shows how nothing can ever get passed, because no one can agree. It shows how his administration is split on subjects, kind of making the administration seem weak, because if they can't compromise, nothing will ever get passed and pull Obama's approval rate down. I think if Obama can keep his promises, like passing this health care bill, his numbers will stay up and keep going up and he'll get re-elected, but if nothing gets passed or changed then his numbers will just start to go down.
2. Rasmussen is biased. His poll is taken more by Democrats than Republicans, so the poll could be fixed in a way that the Democratic views for the polls will get higher percentages since there are more of them taking the poll than Republicans and affiliates.
3.The president's of the past had higher approval ratings than today's presidents. That could be because in the past, the president's actually did stuff, like passed bills and helped us get out of wars and made the US a better place in some way. Today's presidents, well don't really do much of anything compared to Eisenhower and Roosevelt.
4. I don't think it's important, some of the best people are the non-popular ones. I think it's important for the President to be well liked, but not popular. As long as the president stays true to what he said in his campaign, then everyone will like him and he'll get re-elected. People just have to know you and know that your a good person. Popularity doesn't mean anything.
@ Drew
I agree with your statements about how the President doesn't need to be popular, but just make decisions that benefit the country and he'll become a well-liked person.
@ Heather
I agree that approval rating always starts high then just works its way down low. Everyone loves him/her at the beginning because they're new and can lead us in a different direction, then people just start to hate him/her.
Abria Donato pd.4
ReplyDelete1. This poll shows that Americans started out approving of Obama but in the year he’s been in office, Americans have become less and less approving of Obama. This poll measures Obama’s administration through the approval of voters. I think that Obama’s numbers will continue to drop until he does something truly positive and universally (or nearly so) agreed upon for the country at large.
2. One could say that Rasmussen has a conservative bias based on the fact that all polls presented were negative towards Obama.
3. Roosevelt vs Johnson: Both had very high and very low points in their presidencies. On average Johnson’s approval rating was about 55% Roosevelt’s average was not given, but based on the other president’s average approval ratings, it was about the same, being somewhere in the middle.
Regan vs Obama: Regan had high and low points in his administration, as does Obama, but because his administration has only been around for about a year, his numbers are very close. Obama’s average approval is higher than any other president, again because he as only been in for a year. His numbers are following the pattern of all other presidents in that all of their numbers began to drop around this time as well. Actually, he’s holding his approval fairly steady.
4. In some ways, it is important for a president to be popular. If the people approve of him and his action, then that means that he is doing his job well. He is representing the will of the people and not just his agenda.
1. Well it measures how much the public actually likes what his administration is doing. I think Obama's numbers will go back up around 2012 when reelection comes closer.
ReplyDelete2. I'm not sure if it is biased. The poll seems to be conservatively biased because it's negative towards Obama, but they did survey more democrats so I don't really get how that works exactly.
3. I think it shows that everyone starts up high, because they are all given a chance, and then they mess up, and they're rating slowly falls. it happens. Kennedy's was the highest average approval, and i mean, what else would you expect from a guy with a magic bullet?
4.I don't think its important for a president to be popular. That guy that hoover was talking about did stuff that the public hated, but is now seen as a nearly great president. Maybe a president won't be popular when they're in office, but eventually things that they do will make sense. (Well, maybe not for bush.)
@ Heather- I didn't get the car in san fransisco thing at first. but it makes sense now. that was a good one.
@Stefon- you sound like hoover when he talks and makes me feel extremely stupid.
Annelise, p.4
ReplyDeleteGAAAAH! I accidentally hit the back button and everything I typed went away!!! Please don't go overly critical on what I type now, since I'm just trying to regurgitate what I already had but without thinking too much because I have way more stuff to do today.
1. The poll basically shows how Obama's approval rating has descended since he took office. So far, it's been a pretty gradual descend, and I think it will stay at about the same place it is now with a few peaks and dips. Wow, I'm so vague.
2. Since AdBlock hides all of the advertisements on the website, I didn't see any bias there. I did see the quotes though, which were from conservative sources and compared Rasmussem to the (very liberal) New York Times, so right there you could say it has a conservative bias. I'm also siding with Heather here for the 'interviewing more liberals' factor- it's probably there to show that 'Obama is so evil that even his own people don't support him'.
3. Presidential approval ratings have gone down, and I think the main reason for that is media coverage. Back then, there were few sources and most of them just said the basics, but now we have so many sources that we hear about everything. Another thing is that big events effect the approval ratings- such as FDR and the Great Depression and Bush during 9/11 (and then decreasing dramatically after the War on Terror). Obama hasn't done anything dramatic enough to really affect his ratings, except maybe buying a dog...
4. Popularity definitely matters. If a president isn't popular, they won't get a re-election. This is why Obama hasn't made any really controversial decisions yet, such as legalizing gay marriage, since it would divide his popularity a lot.
@Stefon: I wish I could make awesome detailed analysis like you. D: I am not worthy!
@Heather: The "car parked in San Francisco" is now my favorite saying ever. That aside, I pretty much agree with you on everything. (Except maybe hissing at the other wiki, since it's pretty cool.)
Kyle Huntsberry Pd. 4
ReplyDelete1. This poll shows how obama's numbers have gone down. It shows that 30% still agree with the way he is running the country but 40% dont. His index thinger is -10% which is pretty bad for his first year. I do think that obama's numbers will still go down over the next year but as much as i hate to say this, i still have hope in him. I never really liked obama but if there's anything i learned from MRS. EDWARDS last year, it's that obama will come back and surprise us all! :) let's hope ED was right!
2. Yes. It's a bias poll because you need to have the numbers there even. You cant survey 50 democrats and 40 republicans! Of course the poll is going to sway towards what most democrats believe and not what the MAJORITY believes in... You need a fair poll for everyone.
3. Well it seems that most of the older presidents start out with a high approval rating and then the newer start out lower. I cant really comment on the average because they all seem to be mixed numbers. It just seems that people either hate you or love you.
4. Nope. You dont need to be popular to be doing the right things. As long as you're doing what you should be doing people arent going to care much.
@Drew
Liked what you said for #2 & 4
@Taylor
HAHAHA TEHEHE! MAGIC BULLET! HAR
Nathan Flory pd. 4
ReplyDelete1) The poll shows the percentage of people who strongly approve (30%) of how Obama is running the country and those who strongly disapprove (40%). It says that 64% of liberal voters strongly approve with what the President is doing while 68% of conservatives strongly disagree. It goes on to say that 49% of voters somewhat approve while 50% somewhat disapprove. I think that were Obama’s numbers will go depends on what happens while he’s in office. If the economy gets better and the health care bill goes over well then I think it will go up. If the economy doesn’t really go up or if takes a turn for the worse it will go down. The same with the health care bill if it doesn’t get passed or if it doesn’t work well with the down economy then his popularity will go down. There are too many possible situations that could arrive that might make his popularity go up or down so it’s too hard to say.
2) I believe that Rasmussen is a bit conservative. Going of the Wikipedia article Rasmussen’s supporters gave the president the lowest approval rating. Even lower than Fox, so I have to say that Rasmussen has a conservative bias.
3) The older presidents have the higher approval ratings than the approval ratings than the more recent one’s but to me that was no surprise. The older presidents we always painted in a much more positive light in the media, if you look at Clinton and his affair with Monica Lewinski that’s something that everyone knows about now. It’s known now that both FDR and Kennedy had affairs but at the time it wasn’t reported in the media. If Obama doesn’t get himself in hot water I think he will probably maintain a higher approval rating.
4) Popularity matters to a president in their first term. If they get elected a second time they can’t run again for office and they would have to commit a crime to get impeached, so as long as they stay on the up and up they can suggest or sign in to law whatever they decided to. If you look at Bush he didn’t really seem to care what the nation thought of him because there was very little they could do to change it. He had a republican congress for about six years and was able to push forward enough legislation to leave a conservative stamp on society for a few years.
@ Heather
ReplyDeleteYour libertarianism is always so funny it makes me laugh. Yes the poll is conservatively biased Blah Blah.
@ Kyle and well everyone else I guess
The president is almost always going to start out on a high note just because people are happy that they have a new president who’s going to be better than the last one. Then people start to dislike them and they all feel that the presidents a moron and needs to be kicked out of office. It’s just a natural cycle.
Will Obama get elected again? Or maybe Sarah Putin? Hillary? Stephen Colbert? Ron Paul? Rush Limbaugh? The unfrozen Walt Disney? We will just have to wait and see.
Grant Brown, period 1
ReplyDelete1.) I actually read the entire page (most of it anyway) and there really wasn’t anything there that I had never heard before. Basically after stating who/what they (the Poll people) are, the numbers were all what I expected. Liberals like Obama, Conservatives don’t, and those who are extremely Liberal or Conservative really like and really don’t like Obama, respectively. I think that Obama numbers will go down unless something really terrible happens, and then Obama comes in and saves the day (and actually earns the Nobel Peace Prize...)
2.) I think that it is biased a little bit, but mainly because its projecting Obama in a bad light, and I think that any poll that does will and can be accused of being biased just because it isn’t all pro-Obama.
3.) Comparing the older presidents to the new, the older seemed to be liked more; however they all pretty much start high and slowly go down from there. (On a side note, can anyone look at the Gallup Poll Graphs and figure out when big stuff happened in the term cause of the sudden rise in approval? I found that interesting)
4.) I think it depends on how much the president wants to get done in his term. If he wants two terms then yes, but if he gets in, passes a bunch of laws and gets out, then it doesn’t really matter as much.
Annelise- I really like and agree with your answer to number 3, if I wasn’t posting this early I would have taken that and used it in my post. (and that’s a complement, just for the record)
Heather- I love your quote at the end of yours
St. Clair Simmons Pd. 4
ReplyDelete1.
So this poll stated the obvious. Liberals agree with Obama's stuff more than conservatives. The thing that the poll did put into light is that Liberals will hold on to believing in Obama's plans until they just feel that they can't support it anymore. That's kinda starting to happen. Some Liberals feel as though what he's doing is not enough, or isn't happening fast enough, so they start to disapprove.
2. I think this poll is slightly biased conservatively because of the fact that it just restates something nobama that people already know. Liberals wouldn't keep talking about approval ratings going down and such. Leave it to the conservatives to do that.
3.
The Wikipedia article pretty much shows that as a whole, presidential approval ratings just aren't what they used to be. There are just more people who like to be against the president nowadays. I think it's because of the media constantly seeming to be against the president and stuff like that. Since the media does stuff like that, people are more "informed" than they were before.
4.
It depends on what kind of popular. If it's the kind of popular where the majority approves, then of course. But in the Wicked pop teen culture sense...also yes. Anything to get reelected, son.
Shawn Vincent pd. 1
ReplyDelete1. based on the polls it seems that its very close as to how people feel about obama, but there are more people that dissaprove of obama. This doesnt shed a great light on the administration however, i feel that as he accomplishes more in the future the rating will go up. As of now, it seems the general public is merely getting restless.
2. yeah, you know what it appears that more democrats were polled as opposed to conservatives, garnering more favorable reviews, or at least under the circumstances, more favorable. you can tell by the percentages.
3. well, it seems to me that the older presidents were more favored by the approval rating, and a major factor for this is the fact that its almost cool to dissaprove of the president these days. its like a trend. People are just way more antsy these days.
4.It's important to a certain degree. The countrys morale and overall patriotism kinda reflects itself based on the popularity of the president, but the fact of the matter is, and i believe truman perfectly examplifies this, if the president is doing things that are truely going to benefit the nation, no matter how unpopular it is, then i see no downside to the lack of popularity.
@ abria. yeah i deffinitely see the bias, though it is subtle
@Heather
-great quote, added a flare to your blog.
Jamie Orchard, Period 4
ReplyDelete1. In all respects, I believe that reading this article was a complete waste of time. Now, I do mean that in a good way because I do believe everything I read was mostly common sense. We get the gist of this by sitting in our Ap Gov class reading the newspaper, or watching the news, or listening to people on the streets. There are three groups of people when it comes to Obama. The Liberals who make Obama seem as though he is the best thing in the world, Conservatives who well don't, and those who well don't care. The poll almost goes alongside that. Therefore, keeping that in mind I'm not too sure that there's a chance of Obama's numbers going up. Actually, I think the complete opposite. I foresee them going down. He really needs to do something spectacular that is going to blow the minds of everyone..not just those who are trying to make him out to be something that he clearly is not.
2. I don't believe there is a huge bias showing here. However, that's not to say that there isn't one at all. I would have to say that it has a more of a Conservative bias. Obama isn't geting praised and being made out to be a huge deal as he would be if this was more of a Liberal bias. He is though, being made to look a little on the no good side. Making it a slightly Conservative bias.
3. It is easy to see that the President's of our times now have a lower approval ratings than those of the past. There are many reasons as to why this is. The past was different and the technology/medi was different. This means that not as much was covered or heard about and discovered. Plus, people were different in the olden days. Especially with media. The things that were covered were a lot of good things, not all of course, however there was a more glow instead of the media today where people go to seek to find negative things to say about them. Regardless of who has a higher rating, they all tend to well...slowly decline anyhow right?
4. To me this was a really difficult question to answer because there are so many different ways I could go about answering. It truly depends on how you look at the question. If you are thinking that the president should do what's right for everyone and do the things that he thinks will do the country good...then popularity isn't always going to fall in his favor and therefore I would say no. However, if you were looking it at a different light ; I'd also say yes. This would be because if the President wants to have everyone on his side and wants public connections and wants to get elected again well then of course he is going to want to be popular. This question made me think a lot actually for a few reasons. I mean, we all want the president to do things for us that make things better for everyone and for the future generations. However, we don't always want to suffer a little for it to happen. It's strange. Everyone wants things to happen, but never want to work for it. That's not of course true for everyone..but still. The same goes in this situation. The President will of course want to be popular so yes it would be important to him and to the public for that to happen...yet...in order to make core and good decisions sometimes he/she might have to go against what the popular public wants instantly to fix things in the long run. Hm, so I suppose my answer to this question is yes..and no.
Grant,
I agree with your post for question number four. I also think it depends, on quite a lot. However, you hit one of the things I was trying to talk about right on the nail. Sometimes it matters and sometimes it doesnt...truthfully it just depends.
St Clair,
Scrolling down through the comments I realize that I also agree with your post for question number four. It does depend. The whole answer for that question goes off of an "it depends" answer.
Katelyn Owens, Pd. 4
ReplyDelete1. People are starting to question Obama’s morals. People are starting to disapprove more with of his ideas as time goes on. I believe this number will continue to decrease as time goes on.
2. I believe Rasmussen is biased because the voters were hand selected to participate. Rasmussen kind of knew what their votes would come out to be before they voted.
3. This goes for any president old or new, everyone agrees with their decisions until they realize that their actual decisions aren’t for the best. Or they just get tired of them.
4. The more popular a president is the more people like him and agree with most of his decisions. Less people are against him and he receives more support throughout the years. It is also easier for him to get re-elected.
Stewart pd 1
ReplyDelete1. The polls are telling what percent of people approve of what obamas doing and the percent that doesnt. Most of the results are that more people dissapprove of his role as a president, and more say our economy is getting worst and not better. So basically if these results continue his number of supporters will for sure go down. especially if he doesnt do anything to help the economy and jobs.
2. Rasmussen is biased in a way i guess. It's kinda like bashing obamas administration to liberals but for conservatives telling the truth. but i dont really know.and i guess it depends if he surveyed people equally and stuff to get the best results.
3. okay well i really dont know how to say what this means because all the numbers are kinda around the same overall. yeah there are some highs and lows, but not that much of a difference in my opinion.
4. who cares if the presidents popular. as long as he gets his work done and does somethin to help, people will like him.
Katelyn Owens, pd. 4
ReplyDelete@ Shawn
I agree how people might think it's a trend to disagree with the president.
@St. Clair
I strongly agree with you on how more liberals agree with Obama's philosophies. Conservatives on the other hand do not, as much.
Abby Eldredge pd1
ReplyDelete1. So I'm not sure what kind of conclusions there are to be drawn from the poll. It obviously is showing that Obama's approval ratings have gone down since he first started. It is showing us most of what we have learned in class that his party likes him and the conservatives don't. I personally think his numbers will stay down until he needs to promise more things in his reelection campaign. I also think that the world is way to harsh on presidents because when do they ever approve of anything they do? It's a single person trying to run a whole country let's cut the guy a break and he still isn't that far into his term that people need to complain already.
2. I can't really tell if it is biased or not because he polled more democrats but he did make most of the poll negative. I guess he could just be a good reporter and actually just report the facts whether or not he is for or against Obama. Basically he told us the truth about how society views our president.
3. I think basically longer ago in history the presidents were more liked although most of the approval and disaproval high points were relatively close except for the most recent bush. You have to understand the polls in order to compare them however because it is based on certain events in history and how the presidents actually handled those important pivotal moments. Presidents longer ago also have become more popular over time so maybe that is why the older ones seem more popular at the moment.
4. I think in a reelection state it is important to be popular so that you can stay in office, but once you cannot run again it doesn't really matter. The president can do whatever they want really. Take truman, i believe, who did what he wanted even though it upset most people. He was the least popular president ever at the time but now he is viewed as a near great president!
@ jamie i totally agree with #1 the poll just is another example of what we already know from learning it in class and reading articles we could've gotten that information almost anywhere
@ shawn. i wrote my comment before looking at anyone elsees but I completely agree with your truman example seeing as I used that example also.
Alex Cost period 4
ReplyDelete1. So basically the poll shows that Obama's polls have gone down. I honestly think though that since the house just passed the health care bill and in all likely hood it will make it to his desk. His approval will sky rocket.
2. He is INCREDIBLY biased. He, being a reputable right-winger, actually said that he polled more democrats. Basically saying, hey look even his "stupid folowers" don't like him any more. He managed to dupe most of the AP students though so he did a very good job of subtly pushing his agenda across.
3. Obviously the newer presidents are going to have lower ratings. We have more ways to spread how bad they are. With TV, Talk Radio, and the internet, bashing someone is so easy and inexpensive that a lot of times people don't double check their facts before they post. Also we have become a much more celebrity obsessed country, and who is the biggest celebrity but the president?
4. It is not important for a PRESIDENT to be popular, but it is, however, VERY important for a candidate to be popular. President's almost ALWAYS get reelected so once you're in one term, you really don't need to worry that much about your popularity.
@ Almost everyone: HE IS IS IS IS IS IS VERY IS IS BIASED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Drew Holtzapple period 4
ReplyDelete@Kyle: Thanks, I thought my post was pretty decent contrary to what Hoover thinks.
@Heather: That was a very entertaining an relevant analogy!
@Shawn: You have an awesome user name.
@Hoover: Haha, I went above and beyond and made four comments instead of the minimal two.
1.) Well I think the poll is really just saying how Obama is doing in office. Liberals like Obama, simply because he is like them, as in party wise. And that the conservatives don't like him, so it makes me think that of coarse they won't like Obama, simply because he is a Liberal. HE belongs to that other party and he stands for everything they don't. Obama's numbers will be the about the same, I beleive. He will gradually lose percentive points, but he is overall doing fairly well. Now the only thing he has to worry about is his group not liking him.
ReplyDelete2.) I really didn't see it as biased, simply because I read it rather quickly to get this finished, but after seeing what everyone else posted I had to go back and read it again. I see it leaning more libral than anything. I guess they could've done it on purpose, by putting it on a liberal website, but then again it could've been done purely conicidental.
3.) I really didn't understand what this meant. I mean as presidents there is always someone that doesn't like what you're doing. Some of them must've done something wrong though to get as low as approval ratings that they did. But still there were people to like what they were doing.
4.) Of coarse it is important for a president to be popular. If a president does one thing wrong, one really big thing that just pisses everyone off then they have the right to not revote him in office. It really doesn't matter that much if he is in his 2nd term, but still who would want to go down in history as the worst unliked president?
@ Kaitlyn
I agree with the idea that you have to be well liked to be re-elected.
@ Heather
I loved the quote on the end of your post :)
1. The poll just reinforced everything we already learned in class. First of all it is obvious that parties will be more willing to support presidents from their own. Secondly, as the charts show, Obama had great approval ratings and they have slowly but surely started to go down now that the honeymoon period is over. I think the numbers will definitely go up when inevitably some disastrous event happens.
ReplyDelete2. I don't think I could really guage whether Rasmussen was biased or not. Obviously all the polls kind of puts Obama in a bad light, but they're just polls. I think I could tell more clearly how they would handle polls that put him in a good light.
3. I was surprised by how little the numbers fluctuated over time. The comparisons also reinforce the nearly predictable rollercoaster of approval that presidents receive over their years in office.
4. I think that it is only important to be popular when you are going up for election or reelection. I think once you are in your second term however, it is not really important to be popular, if helping the country is your number one priority. I suppose it would make it much more difficult to get Congress to agree with you however, because Congress is going to want to cooperate with their constituents' opinions in order for them to get reelected.
@Jamie
I didn't notice a huge disapproval increase in recent presidential years. The only outlier I see is George W. Bush. And I don't think that his disapproval rating is dependent on the year in history.
@St. Clair
Uh, I don't really know about agreeing with how you explained it, but I agree that the type of popularity also has to be factored in on 'whether it is important or not to be popular as a president.'
Sorry the last post was
ReplyDeleteClaire Bleecker, Period 1
not Deborah.
Josh Firestone pd. 1
ReplyDelete1) I believe that this poll is a pretty good poll because it takes opinions from people who are more likely to vote and form an educated opinion on the President. Although that said I don’t believe that you can take each days poll seriously I think that you have to look at the poll in graph form over a period of time to see the true feelings for President Obama. This poll says that since Obama has come into office his approval ratings have gone down and his disproval ratings have gone up. This is believable because typically when a president comes into office the approval ratings usually go down. I also believe Obamas ratings will continue to go down because he is pushing controversial bills and the American people are fickle.
2) I think Rasmussen is biased for one reason that has numbers to back it up. They poll more Democrats (37%) than Republicans (35%) and 30% unaffiliated. This would give president Obama a more favorable rating even though it shows more people strongly disagree than agree with him.
3) The big difference in presidents prior to Regan and after him are the ones before started with much higher approval ratings. This could have had to do with more problems around the country/world prior to Regan that presidents could solve and be liked for. Although all presidents approval ratings go down after they come into office because American people are fickle and I believe they are more fickle after Regan than before which correlates to the higher ratings before.
4) I don’t believe that it is important for the president to be popular as long as he’s doing things that aren’t hurting the country. Yeah he may do things the American people don’t like but may be in their best interests even if they don’t know it. Look at Harry Truman that Mr. Hoover always talks about he finished with one of the lowest approval ratings and was hated during his time, but is now almost considered a great president.
@ Drew
Not a whole lot of opinions/bias in your answer
@ Nathan
That makes sense that now we see past presidents as better because we didn’t live in there time of power so we know nothing bad about them that people of the time may have disliked them for.
Casie Strausbaugh pd.1
ReplyDelete1. I think this poll shows a lot about Obama's popularity now compared to when he first got elected. Obviously his approval rating has decreased, which is because him and his administration haven't really done much. This is making them look bad seeing as Obama wanted change and there isn't any. I think his numbers will continue to drop until he makes progress on legislation, like heath care.
2. Yes i think they're alittle biased, seeing as more democrats are being interviewed then republicans. However, i think his poll questions aren't biased or anything. So the only thing that makes him biased are the people he's polling.
3. Well the older presidents definitly have a higher approval rating. FDR and and Johnson were both around 80%, were as Obama and Reagan were closer to 50%.
4. I think it's important for a president to be well-liked. For him to pass certain legislation he needs the support of representatives and citizens. However, it is also his job to get work done even if people don't necessarily agree with it.
Tahi Khan, period uno
ReplyDelete1. Way to state the obvious Rammoson or whatever his name is. Liberals agree and conservatives think that Obama is a disgrace to America. Even a dumb@$$ like me didn’t need a poll to understand that. Obama’s rating is seemingly low this early in the presidency, but it may be because of the health care reform plan (which got passed through the House). This poll seems a bit biased but Obama’s popularity will go up in my opinion. I think in the months coming up though, his popularity will be a bit low, but will begin to increase again. His numbers aren’t that high because he’s at the point in the presidency that people are examining what all he did, and he didn’t do much. So if he starts to take some more action, I think his popularity will increase again.
2. Rasmussen (finally spelled his name right) is definitely biased. This is totally a conservative made poll. Otherwise it wouldn’t show the health care disapproval rates.
3. Overall, it seems to me that the past presidents had approval rates much higher back then than now. My guess is that is because in the past the presidents had more action in their term. For instance civil rights, cold war, etc. They start out with a higher approval rate and it gradually declines.
4. My opinion is that a president should be popular to be elected. If people like him, they’ll agree with him. That’s as easy as it gets. Its like in high school, when we have student elections…it’s a popularity contest, and it doesn’t change.
@ Jamie
Yes, you’re right, this is something we went over in class so it is just common sense.
@Kaitlynn
A president has to be popular to be elected, I agree with you :D
Savannah Gilmore Pd. 4
ReplyDeleteI found the poll to be nothing more than an affirmation of what was already discussed in class. Some 30% will back Obama pretty much unconditionally, and 30% will be against him unconditionally. Though some of the remaining 40% will watch Obama's actions and make judgements on their own accord, most will feel however others (mostly the media) tell them to feel. I really found the whole idea of polling every single issue every day of the year is unnecessary and a little obsessive.
The poll has to be conservatively biased. Not only do the polls show a consistent lean toward supporting conservative popularity, Rasmussen was also a guest on the O'Reilly Factor this week.
It looks like the approval/disapproval ratings have less to do with the era of time they are from and more to do with the specific President in office. Truman and Bush had extremely high and low approval ratings in spite of the fact that they were 50 years apart from each other.
Obviously the President has to be atleast marginally popular to get elected, but otherwise it's not really important, though certainly preferable. Congress will for the most part listen to what the President has to say regardless of his popularity.
@ Deborah
I think it's near impossible for a political poll to not be biased, albeit if only slightly. Rasmussen's poll were strangely constant in showing Obama in a bad light.
@ Abby
Good use of Truman as an example that the President doesn't need to be popular to be successful in the long run.
Corey Pool Pd.4
ReplyDelete1. I think that this poll is a strange way to measure Obama’s administration. I think the number of approval will continue to drop because Obama is finally doing something and people are starting to see that it doesn’t work.
2. It seemed to me that the poll was directed more to democrats rather than republicans.
3. The older presidents had a higher average approval rating to the newer.
4. I think that a president should be seen as popular unless under one condition. If that president does something that causes him to become unpopular, that is great for our nation then popularity is out the window. If he is popular it allows his voters to see him in a better personal way.
@Nicole
I agree with you about how the president doesn’t need to be popular. That is an example that is under my rule for not being popular.
@Grant
I think your right about Obama’s approval ratings. Unless Obama does something great his numbers will continue to go down.
A few thoughts:
ReplyDelete1st-Drew is right, sadly. I had hoped his would be the floor for posts, but clearly its in the middle of the pack. Nice job Drew! It appears that others are even briefer & less informative.
2nd-Who do you root for Cowboys-Eagles? I mean, as a Vikings fan, you just root for the blimp to crash on the field. That's all I have.
3rd-Stefon's post made my head hurt--which is fine.
4th- I love Alex post about health care & how it will improve his standing. Really? Keep in mind, this is for a country that will expect all 40 million uninsured people to have 100% coverage by Thursday--WITHOUT a co-pay! I expect disappointment.
42nd-Heather, as long as Obama knows where his towel is at, he should be fine.
Robert Schmuck, pd. 4
ReplyDeleteThis poll is generally just saying that people are starting to realize that Obama's not as great as they thought he would be, as is the case with all presidents. Whenever a new president comes into office, people seem to think that things are gonna be different and we're all gonna live happily ever after, when in truth, no one person is capable of creating the type of utopia that people come to expect. When everyone started fantasizing about Obama's change we can believe in and how he's going to fix all are problems, they simply set themselves up to soon find that what they dreamed of isn't really possible. Besides this, I think Obama's ratings will remain low until things do get better, whether it has anything to do with Obama's actions or not. When life sucks, people want someone to blame, and who better that the person in charge of the entire country? On the contrary, when things start looking good, people can also praise the president for the same reasons. Therefore, once the economy begins to look better, people will likely start to regain confidence in their president; that is, until they find something else to complain about.
Personally, I don't really see too much of a bias in Rasmussen's poll. So it portrayed Obama in a bad light-that's just because he is! But how could it be unbiased if it asked more democrats than republicans? Could it possibly be that there are currently more of them? It's the exact same concept that Hoover described when he talked about a school-wide poll and how there would be more freshmen polled than any other grade-because there's more of them. And seriously, how biased can a polling group be if its results are consistently more accurate than those of everybody else? It's no more biased than any other poll you look at.
There are a lot of things similar and a lot of things different, but it really varies for every president. In general, those past president's had higher ratings when compared to more recent presidents. I think it has a lot to do with the situation the president's put in. Of course, the way they handle the situation is pretty significant as well. For example, back then there was the whole stop the spread of communism thing and all that. People could rally around this common cause and follow someone like Kennedy to stop the great evil of communism. And for Truman, he got to stop WWII right away, so his approval rating started out extremely high. But whenever things take a turn for the worse, people blame the president. So what do recent presidents have to deal with? Well, they get a great economy and a bunch of little incursions in the middle east that everyone always loves to get involved with for long periods of time (note the sarcasm).
The importance of the president's popularity depends on what he's shooting for. In order to make tough decisions that may be for the good of the country and it's people whether they like it or not, popularity just gets in the way. In order to get reelected, of course, a president's popularity is extremely important. But if he's a lame duck or something like that, barring the president getting kicked out of office with an approval rating of 0% or something, then his popularity doesn't really matter too much. But popularity can also be important for maintaining the cohesiveness of the people and stuff like that. But all in all, just like everything else, it depends.
Thomas Boyer Pd 4.
ReplyDelete1. For the last 3 months things have started to level off, mostly due to everyone's' tensions and views of how the Health care bill will turn out. For the first two months disapproval skyrocketed as voters understood his intentions and what he was aiming for. Strong approval has only went down 10 percent for many various reasons, as most presidents go down with time. Total approval is down 15+ percent from the start, but that has leveled off like the rest.
2. Rasmussen is slightly biased in my opinion. He posts no chart for overall disapproval(chart of approval makes things look bad), and the rate of change along the y-axis is much smaller per distance when comparing approval and disapproval, making it appear as if there is even a greater distance between approval and disapproval, or change between them, when compared to the other chart.
3. The older presidents have much higher average and peak approval ratings. I believe this might be due to all the media and news critics nowadays. This is also backed up by recent presidents averaging with an overall higher peak disapproval. Similarly though, they mostly all go down, but with Reagan's and a few others going up and down without sloping down in the end.
4. I believe it "IS" important for a president to be popular. It helps him get stuff done without having to fight his way through everything, but that is offset by the Executive branch being more powerful now. Also it makes us look more united in front of other countries and how democracy might appeal to them. Lastly it helps "Them" get voted and independents usually don't win if they aren't popular, or if they are extreme to one side or another.
@ stefon
ReplyDeleteCan you number them, so that when I go to compare your opinions on stuff that I think matters, or I am focused on at the time, it is easier to find? Or just indenting maybe. And I am surprised you of all people didn't know that his approval rating would be lowered. Even if someone does lots of crap, they are expected to do more or around that much, but if they do hardly anything and they go and start doing stuff, then their "approval" is raised. Plus Obama put way too much hype around himself.(lol spell check said Obama should be spelled Obadiah)
@Corey
The poll is of course voted on by 5-6 percent more Democrats, and Obama "IS" democratic. But I don't believe that this approval rating system is flawed in it being towards one party or another. You should at least explain your reasoning a bit also.......
@ St. Clair
ReplyDeleteHow is the poll biased simply because it portrays Obama in a bad light? If people don't like him, they don't like him. And it doesn't make it conservatively biased because "liberals wouldn't keep talking about approval ratings going down and such". It's Rasmussen's entire job to conduct polls like this for any president. Are you saying that every single poll taken of every single president over the course of their entire term would be biased towards the opposing party while his ratings are down and the president's party while his ratings are up?
@ Alex Cost
First of all, way to completely bash everyone in the class and call us all stupid for not seeing the completely obvious bias. Though I can see your point when you talk about why he polled more democrats than republicans. I mean, it's not like the article also said anything like, and I quote: "Over the past five years, the number of Democrats in the country has increased while the number of Republicans has decreased". You are sooooo right. He obviously polled more democrats for no other reason than he wants people to see that "even his "stupid folowers" don't like him any more". Kudos to you for pointing that out to all us duped AP students. (Sorry, I'm feeling sarcastic tonight)
Lamar Lehman pd 1
ReplyDelete1. The polls for today show that Obama has an approval rating of about 49 percent. There have always been people that strongly approve him and strongly disapprove and these numbers have stayed solid. His approval rating has steadily declined but that seems normal. I don't think that these polls really can measure his administration because i don't think that public opinion should have anything to do with what your doing as an administration. I think that his numbers will go up a little bit and probably stay there for awhile and then jump up before reelection time.
2. I think that he may be slightly biased because there seem to be more polls and statitistics based on negative things and with the graphs being drawn that way and stuff. However I think it is basically as unbiased as you are going to get with anything.
3.I think the conclusion that can be drawn is that there will always be highs and lows throughout a presidency. Every single president on the chart has had an extremely high rating and one very low one. People are going to like you at one point and the next point they won't. That's just the way it is.
4. No, a president doesn't have to be popular. They simply have to get the job done. In the end history will be the judge and we will see how well the president has done. It is only important for a president to be popular if they plan to get reelected. I would however that it is more important for them to make the tough decisions despite them being unpopular.
@savannah
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the president doesn't have to be popular.
@megan
I agree with you that there really wasn't that much of a difference with the stuff on the charts
Zachary Hivner pd 1
ReplyDelete1. The poll measures the approval of Obama's administration. Shockingly the article says that liberals will support Obama, conservatives will vote against him, and independents may vote either way. The poll shows the gradual decrease in popularity for Obama. I personally beleive that Obama's approval rating will lower to around 40 % but will rebound and stay around 50% after the Health Care bill is passed.
2.The poll shows some political biased towards the republicans. The biggest way they show the bias was that they did not interview those that they felt would not vote in the next election. They only interview likely voters which they believe the youth does not vote so they did not count them.
3.The older presidents had lower high approval ratings. The new presidents have higher high approval ratings. Overall i don't see that much of a difference. Certain presidents are more popular than others but they both vary.
4.I think it is important to be popular at certain times. When it is close to there second election of course it is important to be popular. It is also important to be popular when you are trying to gather votes in congress to pass a bill. Otherwise i do not think it is important.
@stefon
It is common for presidents to have low approval ratings after one year. Both Clinton and Reagan had lower approval ratings then Obama according to Gallup.
@Drew
I don't think it matters how many democrats, Republicans, or independent's you interview it matters who they are. If it is a blue dog democrat he they will vote differently than a liberal democrat.
Mariah Snyder period 4
ReplyDelete1.The poll showed the people who approve and dissaprove of the obama presidency. The approval rate has decreased since he came into office. I think it will have its ups and downs, but it will probably keep decreasing over the complete presidency.
2.Because the poll has taken more votes from democrats than republicans, this makes its biased. They should try to get more equal votes.
3. Overall, the older presidents had higher approval ratings.
4.I think that the president has to have a certain popularity level, but i don't think he should really be concerned about his social life. Most presidents are more popular when they come out of office than when they are in office.
@savannah: i agreee with that congress basically always agrees with what the president has to say, popular or not.
@casie: i dont really think he needs a lot of support from citizens. i agree with your last statement about how he needs to worry about making decisions that is going to put us better off as a country.
Jeff Harman Period 4
ReplyDelete1. This pole shows that the presidential approval of Obama is steadily decreasing. The pole measures the administration by saying what the people think exactly of what they are doing. I believe that Obama's numbers will continue to drop at the same rate as he promises things but never will end up doing anything.
2. I would say that this pole can be seen as baised because it is said that more democrats where poled then republicans. But it also only talks about the negatives of Obama so it can be seen the other way.
3. Overall the older presidents always started out very popular and then their ratings went down by a little over time. Now presidents start out less approved and they can see bigger leaps and falls over time.
4. Yes it is very important for a president to be popular. The most important thing for the president is to be re-elected in their first term. So they will use less of their power and just lay back if their approval is dropping. But if it is high he could take a chance on something and not risk losing the next election.
@ Casie
I agree that to be able to pass laws it is important for the president to be popular
@ Drew
If the president is not popular then he probably isn't doing anything to help the country.
Kenneth Wisman Pd.1
ReplyDelete1. *Yawn* Wow, Im so tired and yet I have this blog in front of me...crap...well anyway, I think that this poll shows the people in America who approve and disapprove of Obama's presidency and the newly proposed healthcare bill. The poll is sadly showing that most of Americans are against the way that Obama's administration is going in terms of policies and laws being passed. About 30% of Americans agree with Obama and 30% don't like his policies so he has an average approval rating I guess. His numbers will probably increase slightly if he passes the healthcare bill, but then it'll decrease when his term is halfway through. Finally it will increase when he's being reelected because he's the incumbant.
2. Huh, well Rasmussen's poll was extremly biased for the simple fact that the poll was aimed more towards Democrats than Republicans. So, this really alters the way that president Obama's rating is shown to the general public. This could cause people to like him more, just because other people do.
3.Generally, from the presidents that I have read about, the older president have recieved higher approval rating from the general public because they made decisions that helped the country.(Most never went to war either...) The newer presidents, since they all just love to go to war, usually recieved lower ratings because nobody likes to go to war and there have been many newer presidents involved in scandel. Now that can really get a president hated...
4. Now that's just a dumb question.....really? Of course you need popularity when youre president, because how else would you get anything done? But I guess if the president does get laws passed that benefit the country as a whole and he helps out the economy during a crisis, he doesn't need to be liked by anyone....even though he'll get massively popular anyway....Any president could do without a high approval rating I think because they can get things done without them.
@Heather
I strongly agree with you when you said that a president needs a good approval rating from the people if he hopes to become a well known politician. I wouln't want to be hated by the country that i'm supposed to be representing and helping.....ugh.
@Josh
You're absolutley right about you're comment on how Rasmussen's poll was biased because of the numbers of Democrats polled. This could easily show that they're for Obama and this could show the public that he is favored.
Danni Barlow
ReplyDeletePd. 1
1. This poll is saying that Obama really isnt that great in the peples eyes. They are starting to see that he really as great as he seems. Personally from here i think Obama's numbers are going to go down unless he can show America that he is really going to change things.
2. The poll is biased to the republicans no doubt. They are only showing the people who are going to vote i mean really why not interview those not voting?
3. The older presidents seem like they have a higher approval rating in the begining then the newer ones. But if you look at them for the most part the approval ratings drop.
4. I think it is important for a president to be popular because thats what most of America really is a popularity contest. Ok they may have good ideas and what not but in Americans eyes it has to be the one who can be a household name.
@ Lamar
i totally agreee with you saying that there are always going to be highs and lows in about any presidency.
@ Casie
Yeaa it does help the president to be popular to help him pass bills
Rachael Paules Period 4
ReplyDelete1. What I take out of the poll is basically that, as always, americans want their change. Once they get it, however, they dislike it and want more change. This was shown in the poll. Fewer people strongly disapproved of Obama than now, and many people strongly approved, yet that number dropped.
2. The poll itself was taken by more democrats than republicans, making the results more biased that way. However, the description of the poll seems to be more negative towards Obama, making it more republican. Hmm....
3. It seems to me that the older presidents were favored more by the public than now. Their approval ratings were higher.
4. I think it's pretty obvious that it's important for the president to be popular because how else are they going to be elected into office. After they get in they are pretty much set, however, unless they do something really bad. I mean, by the end of Bush's term he was considered one of the worst president's, yet no one impeached him from office. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's important to get in, but once you're in, you're in.
@ Lamar...I agree with your number 4. They don't really have to be popular unless they plan on getting reelected.
@ Jeff...I agree with what you said about the poll being biased. The results would be different if an equal number of the two parties were polled.
Yetter. Period 4.
ReplyDelete1. This article is about the percentage of Americans that strongly approve and strongly disapprove of Obama. Currently sixty-four percent of liberals strongly approve while sixty-eight percent of conservatives strongly disapprove. Unless he does something drastic, his ratings will just keep going down. If the ‘change’ doesn’t happen, his ratings will.
2. The poll could be seen as taking a bias view in favor of conservatives, as the poll seems more negative towards Obama than people may really be.
3. All of them essentially have the same pattern: their ratings begin high, and slowly decline as people see of think whatever the president promised isn’t happening, they’ve messed up big time, or they’re just bored with the president (we’re people, it happens). Kennedy had the highest average approval rate, and Truman had the lowest average with Carter in a close second.
4. Popularity can be very important to a president, as a president needs popularity to be reelected. With no backing from the public, there is no hope for a reelection. This is pretty much why Obama hasn’t taken any drastic and pressing steps toward this change he spoke of. He’s sticking with baby steps. Doing otherwise would upset his chances of reelection by upsetting his popularity, but not moving fast enough is pretty much doing the same.
Ryan
ReplyDelete1. What this poll shows is Obama's approval ratings and his disapproval ratings. You all know that you always cant satisfy everyone but when people found out his intensions he quickly became less popular. This poll also measures obamas administration approval by votes.
2. Ha were is the chart for disapproval i don't see one. Maybe he forgot it or he has a biased look on this. Seems to be more for democrats.
3. Older presidents have a higher approval ratings than newer ones.
4. I don't think it is that important to Be very popular. I think that as long as you do good things during your term your good. But it certainly helps.
@drew I agree with some of your points In #2 and #4
@Katilyn I agree when you say that a president has to be popular to get elected.
magilton pd 1
ReplyDeleteThe pole shows the percent of people that are for and those against obama. in the beginning his approval rating was up obviously because he won the election. since then, his rating has gone down. i think that is pretty normal to happen. if he is in office and doesnt do anything, his rating will go down for being useless. if he makes a decision on something, the other half that isnt for the decision will be against him. i think his future rating will depend on the health care bill.
i think that this pole is biased in favor of obama. mainly because it uses the approval rating first followed by a while, then the negative rating. the negative rating is list after even though it is bigger.
the past presidents had higher approval ratings from the beginning and they stayed pretty high generally throughout the term. i think this is because technology and communication is high tech now compared to then which makes it easier to see what the president is doing today.
i dont think it is important to be popular as a president. as long as your getting stuff done that is good for the country, it'll be fine in the end. take hoover's example of the one president (truman i think but dont take my word for it). he has a bad approval rating but now that we look back we see all the good things he did for the country.
@ almost everyone
i disagree about being popular to be president.
@drew
i agree. president approval was greater in the past than it is today.
The quality of posts decline as the hours get later. Something to think about....aren't there more Democrats than Republicans? Just like there's more Freshmen then Juniors! SO--its not biased for that reason. If one looks around the Rausmussen site, other signs of bias are definitely evident!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletei am WIDEEE AWAKE
ReplyDelete1. Well as i can see, i guess conservatives right now are very unhappy, and it's probably a no brainer that they are, i mean the president's a democrat for god's sake. At this point, Obama is in the period right before big changes. If his health care bill wins the favor of a large majority of americans, including democrats, maybe moderates and MAYBE a few conservatives, his numbers will probably go up positively. If it doesn't do well, they will definitely go down.
2. Well first off he polled more democrats than conservatives...so maybe he's trying to make a point that obama sucks so much that even with more democrat opinons that his view is negative, OR he simply just felt like asking more donkeys. I don't really know.
3. I think it's pretty much the same for all presidents unless you won a great war or brought china to their knees; presidents start out with great opinions and higher approval, and end with lower ones. Case closed.
4. Well gosh, without popularity, people just hate you and would turn to assassination and what not. But still, with or without popularity, you're still the president unless congress hates you and wants to throw you out.
oh and im jenny
ReplyDeletescott tilley pd. 1
ReplyDelete1. Obama's approval ratings have obviously gone down since he was first elected, and the poll clearly shows that. I think that this always happens to a president one time or another during their first year in office. Approval ratings skyrocket in the beginning because they're crazy about their new president, and if he does nothing, they'll lose interest. I think his numbers will relatively stay in the same area because some people support his decisions, while some people disagree. It should even itself out.
2. I think it is biased because it is really making Barack look bad. They made it seem worse than it really was, and they played it off like this was the first time approval ratings have been like this which is definately not true.
3. More and more people in society love controversey, so they will go against their president just because someone or something they know is. The media always expose bad things about presidents and thats how they make a living. The article shows that approval ratings always go down with every president.
4. I think if a president is making clutch decisions that better the country, who cares if he's popular; he's the freakin' president.
@ ryan
it certainly does help to be popular, but too much popularity can be bad.
@ tasha
who cares if the president is popular or not, he is making dire decisions that shouldnt be swayed by the public or media.
Brook Warren
ReplyDelete1. In general the poll shows that Obama's approval ratings are slowly falling. He still has about half the country behind him while the other does not approve. This is also an overview of the approval of his cabinet. If the people don't approve of the cabinet, the don't approve of Obama. I think if he continues on the path he is on his numbers will go down. He hasn't done much or fought for some of the things he said he would get passed.
2. I think the poll is somewhat biased against Obama. In the article and in the side headlines, they seemed to mention the decline of approval or his not succeeding if an election would take place now, then they did positives. Also on the Wikipedia page, he is one of the few to have his approval rating be less than half.
3. It's seems as though nothing is really different. I mean a president gets good approval ratings and bad ones. Even though the times are different people are still people and are constantly changing their minds.
4. I honestly don't think it's important for a president to be popular. I mean they're the president, it doesn't matter if he has a 1 percent approval rating, if he's in office he can do what he wants! I mean it's important to be liked by the public but it isn't necessary
@ Tilley
Yeah that pretty much sums up number 4
@ Rachael
I agree, it's important to be popular at first to get in but after that, who cares!
Alex Hamm Period 1
ReplyDelete1. The poll shows that the president's approval ratings have dropped drastically since his election. Perhaps this is the reaction of a public which has seen little to no change in domestic and foreign policy. As we all seem to forget, what was on the Obama bumper stickers?
2. The poll targeted more democrats so it inevitibly has to be labled as biased. In order to escape this lableing, the poll would have to target a more diverse audience.
3. The page shows that presidential approval rating are not as high as in the past. This more or less shows that Americans have grown tired of career politicians and their various antics through the years.
4. It is not important for the president to be popular. Harry Truman is a fine example of this. However, the argument can be made that it is important to America for the president to be popular. Think about it.
@ Kenny
Agreed
@ St. Clair
Bull plop
Yes, i know it's late...and i don't have an excuse... i just...forgot.
ReplyDeleteNikki Elicker
Period One
1. Of course, the president's ratings have droppened since his election (why does this not surprise me??). People expect immediate results with these new policies that Obama proposed during his campaign.
2. It's clearly biased. Look how bad it makes Obama look. They make it look like other persident's approval ratings are high after they get elected...yeah right.
3. All this tells me is that people...then, now, or in the future...can't make up their minds. Presidential ratings go up and down depending on the bias of the poll (whether they poll more demos. or repubs.) or what the president has done so far.
4. That's a good question...
Well most people would say no..but that's like asking if it's important for a show horse to have a beautiful mane. If a horse can jump and trot, but has a terrible mane...it's not gonna win. So yes, i think it's important.
Okay... I can't seem to find the wikispace. Can someone please post the link?
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