Strengthened By His Haters: Obama Down The Home Stretch
People like this President.
Pollingreport.com posted the latest polls by several organizations probing Americans’ recent opinions about President Obama’s job performance. Most results showed approval of his job performance averaging 45-46% while disapproval was 48-49%.
However, a CNN/ORC poll conducted June 26-28 showed the President’s job approval at 50% while 47% disapproved. While Gallup’s daily tracking report for July 14, 2015 showed Obama’s job performance rating at 46% approval vs. 49% disapproval, recent polls showed positive perceptions of Obama as a person frequently exceed 50%.
What’s interesting here is that the results are severely underwater concerning topics that correlate with presidential job approval such as the country’s direction, perceptions of economic conditions, views of U.S. influence abroad, etc. This should negatively affect dispositions about Obama but has not. Why?
First, most people are predisposed, in short, to give a president the benefit of the doubt. This president, the first African American to be elected and re-elected president, has enjoyed overwhelming support particularly from black people. Black approval of Obama’s job performance has averaged 40 percentage points higher than the rest of the public throughout his presidency. Additionally, the President will always be buoyed by party perception, and Gallup’s latest poll shows that in the second quarter of 2015, Democrats have regained an edge over the GOP among the American public (46% vs. 41%). Here are the 5 reasons why Obama remains strong no matter what he does:
Problem Solver
Americans think of Obama as, if not a problem-solver, certainly a problem-alleviator. We perceive our problems, especially the economy and unemployment, as not wholly his fault and at least partially Bush’s fault. All Americans, to some extent, again blame Bush, and not wholly Obama for increases in the national debt as well. It is accepted that he has cautiously marshaled us out of one of the worst financial disasters in our nation’s history.
Health Care
Obama has taken the essential first step toward correcting our health care problems. Even though the solution is not perfect, Americans are grateful that their insurance companies can no longer refuse to cover them for having pre-existing conditions, nor drop them as soon as they get an expensive illness. People appreciate these kinds of things.
Social Issues
A large majority of Americans agree with Obama’s positions on same sex marriage, reproductive rights, criminal justice reform, immigration and equal access to housing. There should be no doubt that many Americans are against some or all of these things, but most can find a couple that they like within the platform.
Congress
Feelings about Obama are influenced positively by the contrast with his opponents in the Congress and Senate. No one likes those guys and gals.
No Drama Obama
Obama has an undeniably youthful personality. He listens to hip hop, plays basketball, and his friends are Beyonce and Jay Z. He “talks that talk” (witness him saying to Joe Biden “You know what I’m saying?” after being heckled by a transgender at the White House). When you look at the pictures he took with Youtube “stars” like Bethany Mota and the like he fits right in with them even though, in actuality, he’s twice their age.
He’s the President who “brushes his shoulder off” when addressing his haters. Are these actions beneath the Office of the Presidency? I don’t think so, but he doesn’t care either way and people respect that. It’s a big reason people still find him so appealing and likeable. The hate is all apart of a healthy diet that keeps him balanced and well nourished.
