March 12, 2012

Obama's approval rating sinks from 50% to 41% in one month.

According to the new CBS News/New York Times survey.

I guess pandering to women isn't all it's cracked up to be. Or did he do it the wrong way? Maybe women don't want to be saved from cutting satire, rough language, and the need to pay for their own sex supplies.

But the standard interpretation is that it's gas prices. All these issues and policies and wars to debate and, in the end, it all comes down to what does gas cost. It's that basic day-to-day expense that isn't about sex.

72 comments:

xnar said...

You put that nozzle in the tank and tell me that pumping gas is not about sex?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

My pandering hotspot keeps wandering out of range.

traditionalguy said...

It's the gas price spent cruising main street looking for sex the American way.

Haven't you seen American Graffiti?

Sorun said...

So all of those independent women who zigged left during Flukegate now zagged back to the right because of gas prices. Jeez.

madAsHell said...

CBS news and the WaPo could only find 41%??

Obama is toast!

Blogger has put a red squiggly line under his name. He's officially a non-person.

Saint Croix said...

Maybe that Rush thing is biting him on the ass!

But thanks for the "teachable moment," we got some shits and giggles out of it.

chickelit said...

It's not so much the price of gas as the perception of Chubama telling us that it's good for us and that they like it.

Obama dumps Chu and he could see his prospects soar.

Steven said...

If he issues an edict requiring that employers pay for their employees' gas expenses, we can distinguish the two effects.

(The Sierra Club would get a religious exemption.)

Fen said...

Most the women I know are too intelligent to fall for the "values" switch-n-bait.

Its the economy, Stupid.

Perhaps Obama's inner circle doesn't know any women who balance their own checkbook, invest, run a small business, etc.

David said...

It could also be that the polls are crap.

Fen said...

Although I do know one liberal woman who blogged about how the GOP = Taliban. She had an entire [hyperbolic] list of how they were the same.

Her conclusion was, that as "disappointing" as Obama had been, she would be voting against the "Taliban" in November.

That says alot right there: Obama is so awful that she must pretend the alternative is the Taliban.

Anonymous said...

I guess pandering to women isn't all it's cracked up to be.

It works on you. You voted for Obama and the democrats and will continue to do so. It's not so much pandering as knowing they've got your, and the majority of women, vote a priori.

Because of your inability to think that big government might be bad for women and that you think in terms of identity politics, the dems can say whatever they want and do whatever they want to women and women will continue to vote for them. Women made this clear when they consistently voted for the sexual predator Bill Clinton. NOW endorsed Bill Clinton to clinch the irony.

Phil 314 said...

Damn Big Oil

Damn Republicans

Damn Bush

David said...

AP: "President Barack Obama said Monday that the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier made him "more determined" to stick to his plan to bring U.S. troops home but warned against a "rush to the exits" that could endanger America's interests.
"It makes me more determined to make sure that we're getting our troops home. It's time," he told KDKA television of Pittsburgh, one of a series of interviews with local stations he did at the White House.
"But what we don't want to do is to do it in a way that is just a rush for the exits," he stressed. "We've got to make sure that the Afghans can protect their borders and prevent Al-Qaeda from coming back, and so we're going to have to do it in a responsible way.""

How can someone who speaks this clearly and decisively not be reelected?

edutcher said...

Only 300 were likely voters and 130 weren't even registered, so this is a joke, really, but it shows even the Establishment Media is scared (bet the real figures are tons worse).

Sorun said...

So all of those independent women who zigged left during Flukegate now zagged back to the right because of gas prices.

Actually, it appears they zigged rightward over L'Affaire Fluck and kept right on going.

bagoh20 said...

Gas prices have been high for a while, but the recent increases along with other economic numbers suggest that things are just not getting better, and that's primarily what he will be judged on.

When you combine that with the recent obsession with distractions, to avoid talking the economy, it gives the distinct impression that he does not know what to do, and will be campaigning rather than fixing anything. He and his supporters are inadvertently admitting failure, and it's palpable. People are responding to that.

bagoh20 said...

The question I have is will he go for one last bite at the blame Bush apple. I think if he does it will be a serious mistake. I don't think he can even mention it again without appearing to be a weak unqualified and hopeless failure.

His only hope is to try the Reagan "Stay the course" approach, but of course, Reagan actually had a plan that made sense to people and he was seen as doing something in the right direction. Few people on either side see that with Obama. Right now it's all hope for change.

Beorn said...

Maybe if gas gets too expensive,

1. people on dates will run out of it more often, then

2. be inclined to participate in "recreational activities" in the backseat, which will result in

3. focusing our attention back on the really important issues

...like government mandated, free birth control!

Chase said...

Thank you Ann for having the guts to continually expose the hypocrisy and deception of the Main Stream Media while their lips are firmly secured to the O Boy's rosy posterior.

You really can only laugh at the Times effort to swing the election to the O Boy.

The article referenced by Ann:
Obama’s Rating Falls as Poll Reflects Shaky Landscape

Directly underneath that:
President Recapturing Groups Won by G.O.P.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

The New York Times: Just tryin to keep America stupid.

Go back to sleep Democrats. It's all a dream.



ALSO:
Even the Times can't mess this one up in the first article:

The poll found that women were split as to whether health insurance plans should cover the costs of birth control and whether employers with religious objections should be able to opt out.


Women?!?!?!?! SPLIT?!?!?!?!?

WHat the . . . . ? But all the good liberals are telling us it's over for the GOP because of their war on women. It's everywhere on the internet and on the nightly news and cable.

But Rachel Maddow said that women are fully supporting the Democrats on this one. Isn't Rachel Maddow the spokeswoman for EVERY American Woman?

What's happening Shilo? Rachel? Shilo? Rachel?

Steve Koch said...

Really a self inflicted wound by Obama. He throttled drilling in the gulf of mexico, he stopped the pipeline down from Canada (to the point where the Canadians may do a deal with the Chinese instead), tried to inflict a cap and trade system to raise the cost of energy, has been hostile fracking, doesn't want to drill in ANWR, and has openly said that the price of energy needs to go up.

It is so obvious that when the cost of energy goes up, the economy suffers. IIRC, energy price shocks are the leading cause of recessions for the past several decades.

Obama and the vast majority of dems don't know much about the real world so they make stupid mistakes like raising the price of energy and trying to raise taxes in the middle of a recession.

The cool thing is that the negative attacks on Obama haven't even started. My main worry about Mitt was that he would be to nice to negative campaign. His withering attacks on Newt showed that Mitt is willing to attack an opponent's weaknesses, very reassuring. Obama is very vulnerable to political negative attack adds.

Mitt won't get sidetracked with all the social conservative issues and will focus on crappy economy and corrupt and oppressive government.

GOP voters might want to think about defining a GOP contract with the voter (platform like doc) that defines what the GOP prez candidate (presumably Romney) will do and not do as president. This might reassure conservatives (and indy voters) who fear that Mitt will betray them.

Chase said...

From the Poll:

Question 73. Do you think health insurance plans for all employees should have to cover the full
cost of birth control for their female employees, or should employers be allowed to opt
out of covering that based on religious or moral objections?


Cover Birth Control: 40%
Allowed to Opt Out: 51%
Depends: 3%


Question 74. What about for religiously affiliated employers, such as a hospital or university? Do
you think their health insurance plans for all employees should have to cover the full
cost of birth control for their female employees, or should they be allowed to opt out of
covering that based on religious or moral objections?


Cover Birth Control: 36%
Allowed to Opt Out: 57%
Depends: 2%




Rachel Maddow leading Democrats on suicide watch.

End this madness and save America from the First Amendment shredders and haters of liberty: Vote Republican for President.

Chase said...

Ann has been trying to tell us it's not nearly as good for the O Boy and the Dems:

Shilo - is this New York Times poll workin' for ya? It's just, since you don't believe Rasmussen - how bout your boys at the New York Times?. Yo boi Obam, got to love him!


Hey, didn't the O Boy so regally throw down a challenge to the Repubs about not goin to war with Iran? Didn't the Main Stream Media worship at his $1,200 shoe clad feet?

From the same poll:


Question 79. Would you support or oppose the United States taking military action against Iran in
order to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapons program?


Support: 51%
Oppose: 36%
Don't Know/No Answer: 12%

Question: 79. What should the U.S. do if Israel were to attack Iran in order to prevent it from
developing a nuclear weapons program? Should the U.S. support Israel’s military action,
or should the U.S. not get involved?


Support: 47%
Don't Get Involved: 42%
Oppose: 1%
Don't Know/No Answer: 11%


Media: Limbaugh down and hurtin.\
Reality: Limbaugh doin better than ever.

Media: Obama pickin up and the it's over for the GOP
Reality: Hey, . . . you can read the poll yourself.

Media: America fully supports everything behind Public Employee Unions
Reality: As Ann wrote:"Who has declared war on the middle class? Democrats have....

Democrats need a new news source, just sayin. Seriously - the suicide rate is going to go through the roof in November when Democrats wake up and it's President elect Not Obama.

End the madness, the waste of human capital and bring America's liberty back. Vote Republican for President.

a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...

I didn't like it, and would vote against it, but I had an 'I just work here' feeling about the contraceptive debate. He insulted a generation of soldiers today though when he said the war crime in Afghanistan 'wasn't as bad as the unit actions (common) in VN.' VN was a friggin vicious psy ops war that you could be drafted for. He's C-in-C. If the killer isn't criminally insane, don't denigrate the VN veterans. If you have what the soldiers in VN had, hand him over to the Afghans.

Seven Machos said...

Romney will have to do a reverse Reagan: pick a person who provides psychological comfort to religious conservatives as vice president. Once he does that, he's golden.

That's one theory. Another theory is that Romney will win all the states religious conservatives could matter in, anyway. So, he should pick Mitch Daniels or Rubio.

Either way, it's going to be so awesome.

Chase said...

What Seven said

Chase said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chase said...

What I'm preparing for is the flood of Black leaders lining up in October to lecture America that Obama's upcoming defeat will be completely due to racist America.

Could start as early as the Dem Convention though . . . .

Maybe we should ask shilo for the tentative dates . . .

Seven Machos said...

Chase -- It's going to happen. I've been calling it since 2008. I coined a term: blacklash.

Americans will be chided for being racist, despite electing Obama in 2008. It will boomerang horrifically, like everything this tone-deaf administration has done. It will be hilarious because the cocooned leftists will get madder and madder as it doesn't work.

Chase said...

Blacklash. Heh.

Steve Koch said...

Pick Rubio at VP. Florida is hugely important and a state that could go either way. Rubio is popular in Florida and could help the GOP win there. Hispanic vote is an ever bigger factor and having an Hispanic VP can't hurt. It would also groom Rubio for the prez down the road.

yashu said...

Romney/ Rubio, fuck yeah.

crosspatch said...

"Although I do know one liberal woman who blogged about how the GOP = Taliban."

Well, there is a faction of the far right fringe that likes to call itself "The Base" which in the Arabic is "al Qaeda".

crosspatch said...

Romney needs a Southerner as VP. He would do well to go with Jeb Bush or maybe Alan West.

MayBee said...

I don't know. It's just so weird to think women might form opinions on things that aren't womens' issues.

Mr. Forward said...

You may be driving the wrong car.

edutcher said...

Following Chase's theme, I'm reminded of something Glenn Reynolds said a couple of weeks ago:

If the media sees O as going down, they'll turn on him.

First ABC, now Black Rock. Granted, it's early and only 1 poll for each, but how many would have guessed they'd see something like this a year ago?

rhhardin said...

The media will do whatever holds the attention of soap opera women.

Any conservative view is too hard and confusing to them, and they tune away.

The democrats and the media are aligned because they supply each other with simple stories and therefore customers.

It's a business arrangement.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Well considering Obama stated during the campaign that he didn't mind the increase in gas prices, and over half the nation voted for him anyway, one has to wonder if anyone was actually paying attention to what he was saying.

Francisco D said...

Shifts like this do not occur for a single reason, as pundits with an agenda like to claim. My best guess is that (1) People are paying more attention to Obama with the election coming up; (2) He seems increasingly divisive as with the Fluke incident, and (3) gas prices are rising because he plainly wants them to rise. Other ideas?

Writ Small said...

They've stopped the televised events where each Republican candidate angrily or calmly explains why the others suck.

Roger J. said...

I am guessing that gas prices are the canary in the coal mine--everytime you you fill up your tank you are getting a clear indication of the economic situation. Esp if you drive a Toyota Tundra V8 as I do.

I think Sen Rubio would be a powerful candidate--He actually speaks Spanish and not Austrian. There is, however, one major downside--we will be deluged with posts from Mick about natural born citizens.

Rusty said...

. Other ideas?

I'll have a diet Coke.

Carnifex said...

@crosspatch

Please, for the love of God, no more Bush's! I think I would commit suicide.

If Andrew has gathered more tapes of O giving a big wet tongue kiss to even more racists,anti semites,, and commies during his youth, then the lefties are going to be to busy defendibg them as middle-of-the-road Americans to get their "Blacklash" up to speed. (I like this term! Kudo's Seven)

As I explained earlier in the week, it ain't gonna matter how much slurpin' the media does, no one is voting for a president who in 4 years got the price of gas to skyrocket, backed so many boondoggles with our money, and a rising unemployment rate(cause if you think unemployment is gonna fall with gas at >$5 you need to put the crack pipe down)

I'm sure the first Wookie will be coming off another vacay, just to spice things up.

People are going to vote for Jeffery Dahmer over the big O.

The thing D wonks aren't admitting publicly is that with the election a few months away most people are STILL not paying attention, and won't till the last minute. They're too busy just doing their thing.

But come September, and October, people will lift outta their burrows like Punxsutawney Phil, see their economic life a shadow of what it was, and vote anybody but Obama. Then they will return to their slumber for 4 more years.

This is why I have been prepping. The only way, literally, for Obama to win is for him to pull something. Be it war with Iraq, or declaring martial law when OWS riots at his command(more Soros command, but the word out of the puppet is spoken by the puppetmaster). A false flag incident(which is my least likely scenario), or keep trying to push some response from some right wing nut job(like McVeigh). I truly think Valerie Jarret, and Eric Holder are cursing this morning because the Staff Sargent went crazy in Ashcanistan instead of here.

Unknown said...

The Obama Administration has an increasingly theorhetical connection to reality.

Curious George said...

"Seven Machos said...
Chase -- It's going to happen. I've been calling it since 2008. I coined a term: blacklash."

Wouldn't it be "Halfblacklash"?

I'm Full of Soup said...

This just in - even librul pollsters can now see the Tsunami heading for Prez Obama in November.

Steve Austin said...

I think the Fluke thing backfired in the sense that a lot of people bypassed the womym's issue and went right for the point. The government is taking over healthcare. Obama, Pelosi and Reid set us up for that one with the healthcare bill two years ago.

Now it's coming. Government sponsored healthcare. And people don't want the guy who brought you that being around another four years to do even more damage to our freedoms.

Almost Ali said...

It's taken three years of unprecedented destruction for a majority to finally catch on: Barack Obama is not only a jive turkey, he's a communist jive turkey.

Now there are calls for a vetting, high-sounding demands that the media "do its job" - as if the voters were/are incapable and infirm - illiterate dupes barely able to find the polls - especially in the strange and frightening land of Google.

pm317 said...

Rubio all the way, baby! with Romney..

Watch this (it is worth it).

I don't think we will hear anything about his birth certificate from the other side.

Henry said...

Roger J. wrote: There is, however, one major downside--we will be deluged with posts from Mick about natural born citizens.

I'm willing to take one for the team.

SGT Ted said...

The Dems assumption that all women agree with them is their critical mistake in the Rush kerfuffle.

Gospace said...

todir evlsoiduMethinks the media is going to slowly continue to show Obama's ratings go down- until they get to the real levels. Else it will be hard to explain the election results.

Brian Brown said...

When are you rubes going to understand that Obama is popular, the economy is improving, the Republicans want to ban birth control, and unemployment benefits create jobs!?

Oh, and this nugget from the Wash Post/ABC poll was revealilng:

Americans by a broad 65-26 percent disapprove of how the president is handling the price of gas, which has gained 49 cents a gallon this year to an average $3.79.

Robert Cook said...

"It's taken three years of unprecedented destruction for a majority to finally catch on: Barack Obama is not only a jive turkey, he's a communist jive turkey."

Hahahahahaha!

Bruuuuther! There are reasons to deplore Obama's presidency--his continuation of America's wars of empire; his furthering of the militarized police state domestically; his establishment of unitary authority as "Commander in Chief" to order the murder of any individual, any time, any where...including Americans; his bulldozer approach to dealing with whistleblowers; etc.--but, if three years in, you still think the reason to condemn is that "he is a communist," in fact, if you can even really think he is a communist, you're not even trying to pay attention. You might as well--and with equal accuracy or connection to reality--condemn him as being an evil orc, in service to Sauron.

Anonymous said...

There are reasons to deplore Obama's presidency--his continuation of America's wars of empire; his furthering of the militarized police state domestically; his establishment of unitary authority as "Commander in Chief" to order the murder of any individual, any time, any where...including Americans; his bulldozer approach to dealing with whistleblowers; etc.--but, if three years in, you still think the reason to condemn is that "he is a communist,"...

Throw in incompetent economic policies, then, yes, he is a communist in the old USSR style.

Who, in your estimation is a communist? We need some real world example as a metirc.

Salvatore Buttaci said...

After this Republican fiasco is over and Obama is re-elected, will someone write a comedy about the Republican contenders for the nomination? Will it be illustrated?

Henry said...

You might as well--and with equal accuracy or connection to reality--condemn him as being an evil orc, in service to Sauron.

Well there's that, too.

edutcher said...

Salvatore Buttaci said...

After this Republican fiasco is over and Obama is re-elected, will someone write a comedy about the Republican contenders for the nomination? Will it be illustrated?

Hey, Hatman took off his hat.

Robert Cook said...

Throw in incompetent economic policies, then, yes, he is a communist in the old USSR style.

Obama's economic policies are "incompetent" to the extent he's trying to serve the masters who created our economic catastrophe: Wall Street. The 1% are doing very well, thank you very much, (the 1% of the 1% are doing spectacularly).

That aside, how does an "incompetent economic policy" equate to "communist in the old USSR style?" An economic policy can be effective or not, "competent" or not, no matter what type of economic system one is looking at. "Communism" is not a catch-all phrase that covers all things bad.

What policies, specifically, has Obama passed that can be called "communist."

Thorley Winston said...

I don't know. It's just so weird to think women might form opinions on things that aren't womens' issues.


I always thought that there was something arrogant in presuming that because a person is of a particular race or gender, then they ought to be more concerned about some issues than others or that their race or gender ought to dictate what their position on an issue ought to be.


It’s almost as arrogant as when members of the media designate someone as “leader” of a particular ethnic group as if there was some secret election in which members of that ethnic group get together to vote for who gets to be their official spokesperson.

Thorley Winston said...

You might as well--and with equal accuracy or connection to reality--condemn him as being an evil orc, in service to Sauron.

Wormtongue wasn’t an orc but other than that, it’s not a bad comparison. Both pushed for disasterous policies that lead their respective countries to near ruin from within while weakening them in the face of their external enemies. Rohan was saved only when the Theoden woke up and realized what had been going on around him and tossed Wormtongue out on his arse.

Hopefully the parallel will continue to hold this fall.

Kirby Olson said...

Life's a gas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjiNROf_U4Y

shiloh said...

Althouse, you got your usual group of doting lemmings all excited :D w/this thread. Congrats!

And speaking of doting, from out of nowhere, Chase gets added to my "impressive" list of confused groupies/pets. But someone must tell him he tries wayyy too hard re: baiting. :-P

Less is more ...

This is great news ... for John McCain!

Apologies to McCain, as he has humanity and is/was a war hero and mittens is still searchin' for an identity.

Regardless, keep hope alive!

Hoosier Daddy said...

"... There are reasons to deplore Obama's presidency--his continuation of America's wars of empire; his furthering of the militarized police state domestically; his establishment of unitary authority as "Commander in Chief" to order the murder of any individual, any time, any where...including Americans; his bulldozer approach to dealing with whistleblowers; etc..."

Indeed, those are trademark examples of a communist.

Almost Ali said...

What policies, specifically, has Obama passed that can be called "communist."

Healthcare mandate.

Bruce Hayden said...

Throw in incompetent economic policies, then, yes, he is a communist in the old USSR style.

Not really. While his father, whom Obama apparently wanted to emulate, or something like that, was a communist, Obama himself is probably closer to a fascist type of socialist than a communist type, without the nationalistic aspect that we found with the Nazi variant.

It is the rampant and egregious crony capitalism that gives it away. A true communist would never put up with it, and a pragmatic one would hide it better. For today's GE, GM, Goldman Sachs, et al., think German Krupp, Bayer, Volkswagen, et al. of the 1930s through mid 1940s. In exchange for advancing the regime's goals, these companies prospered through sweetheart contracts, subsidies, etc. (including, for those German companies, access to cheap labor of questionable provenance).

As a related matter, I am wondering if we can start calling Goldman Sachs, GS, for Government Securities, along with GM for Government Moters and GE for Government Electric. After all, GS people ended up running TARP, including getting AIG bailed out, which insured a lot of GS's bad deals.

Unknown said...

Sandra Fluke and her whiny plea for equality in the form of free birth control is another example of how deeply nostalgic leftism is today.

People have been managing their own birth control for 30 years and Sandra has somehow uncovered a legion of women made pregnant and sick from the lack of pills! Of course, no names are provided. I bet some of them had to buy their pills in dark back alleys, too

Fen said...

Cook: "Communism" is not a catch-all phrase that covers all things bad.

Sure it does. Else, name one good thing?

And Obama is not a communist, he's a Marxist. Like you.

Mike said...

Time to rework the old "Sex or Golf" joke. Hubby wakes up, it's a cold morning, he doesn't know if he wants to make his tee time. Asks his wife, "Sex or Golf"? She says "Wear your sweater".

Now it's Sex or Gas. Except with the price of gas under the Chubama regime, he can't afford to fill his tank. And he can't afford the green fees either.

Fact of the matter the "green fees" that Chubama are putting on the economy are destroying it.

Michael The Magnificent said...

It works on you. You voted for Obama and the democrats and will continue to do so. It's not so much pandering as knowing they've got your, and the majority of women, vote a priori.

Bears repeating. A Rube is as a Rube does, and no doubt will do again.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

It's one poll. You can't extract causality from one poll and whatever we've been talking about for the last week.

If you look at the RCP average this poll is an outlier.

leslyn said...

@Althouse:

Why did you even say "pandering to women" at all? You apparently don't believe that's the reason for the drop in approval rating:

"...in the end, it all comes down to what does gas cost. It's that basic day-to-day expense that isn't about sex."

All you did was bring out the closet misogynists.

Sarah Palin for VP!