Via- Jer
Just after the election last November I wrote about a Rasmussen poll:
I find this poll from the Rasmussen Report rather telling. Particularly this portion.
Ninety-five percent (95%) of political conservatives see Obama as politically liberal. Seventy-one percent (71%) of liberals see the President-elect as one of their own.
However, political moderates are more likely to see Obama as closer to the political center. Forty-four percent (44%) of moderates see Obama as moderate while 46% see him as liberal
It is not surprising that conservatives would view Obama as a liberal and that liberals in such large numbers would identify him as one of their own, but what is surprising is how few moderates recognize him as being liberal. This may explain why he won the election, the fact that he could portray himself as a moderate to a large portion of those who identify themselves as being moderate probably played a large part in his ability to carry independents and therefore the election. If even a small percentage more of self described moderates had identified him as liberal rather than moderate that very well could have changed the election.
That large portion of self-described political moderates seeing Obama as being like them, moderate, was not only telling then in regards to the election, it is telling now and coming home to roost as he tries to govern. Although he and his followers felt that he had a mandate that was never the case. The fact that his election was won based upon a deception of his true ideology will inevitably lead to his increasing unpopularity.
As I pointed out, moderates tend to be less politically involved so it is no surprise that they would not see Obama as the extreme leftist he is. Rather they either bought into the campaign portrayal of him as a left of center liberal or thought he was going to be the transformational post partisan, post racial politician that was his shtick on the campaign trail.
Either ways he is not what that 44% of moderates thought he was and that has been obvious since the beginning of his presidency. On nearly every issue the American public other than Democrats have disagreed with Obama on his policies. Whether it be Guantanamo, the auto bailouts, the stimulus, cap and trade and virtually every other issue that has come up or is in the pipe line the American public disagrees with Obama. Now it is health care and the American public is taking notice and they are not liking what they see.
Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. This is the second straight day that his overall approval rating has been below 50% among Likely Voters nationwide. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove. See recent demographic highlights from the Presidential Tracking Poll. For more measures of the President’s performance, see Obama By the Numbers.
If you click on that demographic link you will find that 63% of Independents do not approve of the job Obama is doing. There is a simple reason for this, they don't agree with what he is doing and he is not what he said he was and what they were led to believe he was. So not only is Obama not following policies that a majority of Americans support, the key portion of the electorate that made his election possible are beginning to see that they were deceived. Personally I think it's their own damned fault for not paying attention and they have only themselves to blame, but that is water under the bridge now.
I will admit that though I am an Independent I am not one that was willing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt. I have believed since late last summer that he was a fraud and I do not want a total fraud as my President, plus I disagree with nearly everything he stands for even if he was honest about it which he isn't.
Personally it was my hope that the awesome responsibility as President of our great country would humble him somewhat and push him towards a more pragmatic center similar to what Clinton ultimately was forced to do. Unfortunately Obama is far too arrogant and as I wrote back in November I suspect he will continue to fall back to what he knows.
But this can not go on forever, as his polls continue to drop Democrats in congress will be less likely to support him especially the Blue Dogs and others in vulnerable districts. Even the media is starting to cover him a bit more critically and the less popular he is the more critical they will become. I believe his Chicago street thug political tactics will become more and more pronounced and obvious and the media will begin to report it. This will turn off more and more of the moderates who say they are all for partisanship and kumbaya politics.
If this is true and I very much believe it is, then the idea that Obama will ultimately govern from the middle is unlikely. A person, particularly a person under stress tends to make decisions based on their core beliefs. Unless Obama allows more moderate advisers to influence him towards the center, it is more likely that he will swing left as time goes on. Unlike Clinton or Bush or most presidents this is even more probable now that he has very little legislative or media checks on his power.
His current policies are not going to drastically turn around the economy we will probably have double digit unemployment going into next years elections, in which case the Democrats will probably suffer a blood bath in congress. I don't know that they'll lose control of congress and definitely not lose much in the Senate but it will still be a severe blow.
Obama is going to have to take one of two possible paths eventually. He can moderate his policies and tone down his anti-American, anti-capitalism rhetoric and take the Clinton path. Or he can try to force his will on an ever increasing disgruntled public similar to what Jimmy Carter did.
I hope he takes the second course, because I want this total fraud exposed and humiliated so that the generations to come will have yet another example of the stupidity of leftist authoritarian progressive mentality that Obama represents.
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