Approval Ratings Obama 71% Bush 34%

Only 14% of people disapprove of Obama, according to the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll.

Source

Barack Obama can seem to do little wrong in the eyes of the public. About 71% of Americans approve of his efforts in a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll. The results, which show that just 14% disapprove of him, are largely unchanged from December. President Bush, by contrast, will leave office with a 34% approval rating, the lowest since Nixon, CBS reports. Bush's disapproval rating in the Gallup Poll is 61%.

I don't know if it's my imagination or what but it doesn't seem that ATS members are representative of this piece of data. It seems to me that a lot more ATS members disapprove of Obama. Or maybe it's just a case of a vocal minority. Most likely, ATS members are just more skeptical.

I wouldn't say that I disapprove of Obama... I mean that would be ridiculous since he isn't even in power yet.

However I would say that I am wary of him, his actions so far and some of his intended policies.

Going in to office I think Bush had a pretty high approval rating too. You are comapring an unpopular outgoing president who has bumbled through his terms to a popular incoming man who hasn't even taken command of the office.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Aren't we jumping the gun here??

The poor guy isn't even president yet.

He hasn't had a chance to do anything yet.

Let's not rush to judge Obama.

Bush is still higher than congress.

Congress is at 23% according to NBC/WSJ

Oh BTW I am highly skeptical of Obama and his motives. Pardon my sarcasm with my earlier statements.

Yeah, what exactly are "his efforts"? He hasn't really done anything yet except not be an American citizen and hire a whole bunch of Clinton lapdogs. 74% of people approve of that, not likely.

They could have polled a whole bunch of people like Gary Busey.

Peace

Well I have no clue how they get that figure but if that was the case then why the need for all the security for his inauguration?

You do realize BH that if these numbers were somehow reversed you would caution us that they are irrelevant because he hasn't even taken office yet right?

The same still applies. This poll is irrelevant. The man has done nothing yet.

Although I do believe strongly that once he does start doing things…that number will drop drastically fairly quickly.

Give him time and he will no doubt find a way to lower his numbers.

The President gets all the blame whether he deserves it or not.

Originally posted by asmeone2
You are comapring an unpopular outgoing president who has bumbled through his terms to a popular incoming man who hasn't even taken command of the office.

The POLL compared them. As far as I'm concerned there is no comparison.

Originally posted by jibeho
Let's not rush to judge Obama.

Good one!

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
Well I have no clue how they get that figure but if that was the case then why the need for all the security for his inauguration?

From what I've read, I'd say they need that security because of the 14%.

Dr. Love, I'm thinking they are judging him on his handling of the transition, his stimulus package, his proposals for the future, the people he's picking for his cabinet and his bipartisan actions such as Dining with Conservative Columnists. Regardless what the 14% thinks, most people are approving of his handling of things so far.

Has any ats member ever been asked by the media or by the poll takers how they felt?I bet the answer is no.
So if nobody here has been asked then how the hell do they speak for all Americans?
Statistical math can point anywhere you want it to if you use the right sources.

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
Statistical math can point anywhere you want it to if you use the right sources.

A very good point.

This poll doesn't link anywhere to the sampling for this poll. Keep in mind though that the WSJ has a history of oversampling democrats in their polls.

Originally posted by nyk537
You do realize BH that if these numbers were somehow reversed you would caution us that they are irrelevant because he hasn't even taken office yet right?

Well, I didn't say I agreed with or supported the poll, but I'm glad you got my point. You and jibeho are pretty quick.

And you guys are right. I'm sure the numbers will change once he starts in office.

It's just amazing to me how quickly people around here jump on the bandwagon of negative judgments against Obama, but simply disregard positive judgments, because "he's not in office yet".

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

It's just amazing to me how quickly people around here jump on the bandwagon of negative judgments against Obama, but simply disregard positive judgments, because "he's not in office yet".

You should be happy that at least many people gave up on the Birth Certificate issue.

I wonder what his worldwide poll show ever since the fight in Gaza started. Many nations were critical of him for being silent.

Geez, BH, if someone even whispers that they don't like Obama's cabinet picks, you come in screaming, "He hasn't done anything yet!!! Give him a chance!!!!!'

Now, you post this article about Obama's approval rating? Remember, quoting you, he hasn't done anything yet.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
It's just amazing to me how quickly people around here jump on the bandwagon of negative judgments against Obama, but simply disregard positive judgments, because "he's not in office yet".

I'm not on any bandwagon.

I don't like the majority of his appointments so far, I think his "stimulus" package is terrible for this country, and I generally have no reason to sing his praises right now. That doesn't mean I'm judging him unfairly, I have substantive disagreements with his decisions thus far.

The fact that so many people support him already kind of frightens me. I would say the majority of his support is from people who are expecting his "stimulus" package to send them a check for doing nothing. That scares me.

Originally posted by jam321
You should be happy that at least many people gave up on the Birth Certificate issue.

I am. But it was fun while it lasted.

I wonder what his worldwide poll show ever since the fight in Gaza started. Many nations were critical of him for being silent.

I'm curious about that, too. You may be right that he took a hit because of that. I'll be interested in meaningful polls (US and worldwide), say, once he's been in office for a year or two and implemented some policy.

Originally posted by nyk537
That doesn't mean I'm judging him unfairly, I have substantive disagreements with his decisions thus far.

Well, I didn't mean anyone in particular. Just the general feeling I pick up. There are so many negative threads on him and so many people expressing how terribly he's doing, I thought I'd point out that even though he hasn't started his job, there are plenty of people on the other side of that coin.

And I didn't say your judgments are unfair! You have every right to be suspicious or dislike what he's done and what he's going to do. It's not unfair, it's your judgment. And I respect your right to have it. I really do.

And jericho is right. I do "scream" that he's not in office yet. Just as people here did. Interesting, isn't it?

He's going to continue the crazy spending and debt that we should have never done in the first place!

"Government is the only fix out of this crisis." BS!!!!

Our government caused this crisis and they continue to make it worse by "helping" (giving taxpayer money away) to everyone with their hands open.

53 trillion debt and rising....pile it on baby!!! Give me some more debt that i'll never be able to repay!!!

I wouldn't say he's done nothing, but people should be questioning why his numbers aren't higher given the "landslide" of a victory which he won in November.

Could it have to do with:

1. Commerce pick Gov. Bill Richardson who withdrew from consideration over an ongoing grand jury investigation (Obama has yet to name a replacement pick)

2. Timothy Geithner whose confirmation hearing is postponed pending investigation of his not paying thousands of dollars in back taxes (The pick for Treasury being investigated for TAX EVASION! How messed up is that???)

3. Tom Daschle, who must now appear before the Senate Finance Committee while his ties to an education loan provider are being investigated (online.wsj.com...)

4. Sec. of transportation nominee Ray LaHood, whom the Washington Post did a recent story about:

The Post reported this morning that LaHood, a seven-term Republican Congressman from Illinois who retired last month, has close ties to a Republican power-broker indicted in the pay-to-play scandal that also led to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's recent arrest. The story also documented LaHood's sponsorship of $60 million in congressional earmarks last year, and how at least $9 million of them directly benefited his top campaign donors."

voices.washingtonpost.com...

5. Leon Panetta, the guy picked to HEAD THE CIA who also lacks an intelligence background

Yep, we're 5 days away from the inauguration and there's all this controversy going on with just his CABINET PICKS. Don't get used to that 77% number, BH, with performance like this after the sale, I predict his numbers are going nowhere but down.


[edit on 15-1-2009 by sos37]

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
Dr. Love, I'm thinking they are judging him on his handling of the transition, his stimulus package, his proposals for the future, the people he's picking for his cabinet and his bipartisan actions such as Dining with Conservative Columnists. Regardless what the 14% thinks, most people are approving of his handling of things so far.

I don't think so BH. His popularity is due to Bush's UNpopularity. A relief that that page of American history is over. He really hasn't done much. Let him take power and see what the numbers do. Imo he won't get as low as W but won't have the support of Reagan.

Originally posted by intrepid
His popularity is due to Bush's UNpopularity.

I'm sure that factors in as well. There are probably many reasons.

Let him take power and see what the numbers do.

I agree. If you read the rest of the thread, you'll see I was really kind of making that point.