Obama's Great Divide: Public Split Between His Personality and His Policies

[HopeOverFear]

By JOE MURRAY, The Bulletin


Riding into the Oval Office on a tidal wave of support, President Barack Obama’s overreaching policy proposals concerning issues like healthcare and global warming have cost him in the polls. While still maintaining high likability ratings, the U.S. public has begun to differentiate between Obama the person and Obama the politician.

Just under three quarters of Americans, 74 percent, told Quinnipiac pollsters they like Mr. Obama, but the president’s policies garnished support from only 47 percent of the country. Such a gap demonstrates that Mr. Obama’s policies are costing him a number of the Independent voters who delivered him the White House last November.

"Most Americans like President Barack Obama and might like to have a beer with him," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "But millions of voters who sided with him last November because they thought he would bring change to Washington aren't crazy about the kind of change he is trying to bring."

Unlike his campaign promises, Mr. Obama has embarked on a partisan crusade and is attempting to use the solid Democrat majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to pass a legislative agenda many view as leftist. But Mr. Obama’s policies created grassroots uproar over the summer and many Democratic lawmakers, many facing reelection in 2010, found themselves feeling a summer heat that turned into an Indian summer.

Because the president’s agenda is viewed as ideological rather than unifying, a populist collation of frustrated voters – repulsed by skyrocketing deficits – have begun to abandon the man they supported just a year ago.

"That is especially true of Independent voters, many of whom used to be Republicans turned off by the Bush years. They may not yet have returned to their former political home, but many have concluded Obama isn't offering their kind of solutions," Dr. Brown added.

"The President's lower policy approval may be a warning sign for the White House that they need to better align their programs with the views of the American people, or better explain to the American people what they're trying to do."

Try to guess if this article is liberal or conservative-leaning. :)

[optimator]

1. HAHAHAHA

"Obama has embarked on a partisan crusade"
If only.............

[T Wolf]

2. The Bullshitin is a reich-wing rag that arose from the ashes of a defunct Philly paper.

It makes the Washington times look like a real newspaper.

Just ignore it.

[Starry Messenger]

3. It's conservative.

That was easy.

[HopeOverFear]

4. Why yes..yes it is.

:)

[depakid]

5. "overreaching policy proposals"

:rofl:

The guy can't win for losing.

The administration with the help of Congress appeal has lost a lot of appeal with the base with lackluster proposals- and the right- LOL- well, they never supported Democratic values in the first place.

Talk about FAILING to learn the lessons of the 1990's.

[dionysus]

6. it's funny how conservative people see things completely differently from reality. to them, he's

chairman Mao, to DU he's a sellout.

[treestar]

7. "solid Democrat majorities"

:rofl:

"Many view as leftist" :rofl: You betcha right wingers do! :rofl:

[impik]

8. And i thought he had bipartisanship fetish...

Poor guy can't win.

[LWolf]

9. OMG

"many view as leftist"

:wow:

Nobody even a hair's breadth left of center views Obama's legislative agenda as anywhere close to "leftist." He's a center-right president with a center-right agenda, and I'm sick of the propaganda labeling him as anything else.

[Laelth]

10. +1 n/t

:dem:

-Laelth