So much for this being Obama's Katrina

[ProSense]

Faith in Obama sinks since oil spill: poll

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Fewer Americans think that President Barack Obama is tough enough to handle a crisis after the oil spill disaster, a poll published Thursday found, noting a decline similar to that suffered by George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina.

About 53 percent of those surveyed judged Obama to be a solid and effective leader, seven points less than in January.

Conducted by CNN/Opinion Research Corporation after Obama's primetime address to the nation Tuesday, the poll "offers evidence that the public's view of Obama's leadership is following the same pattern that George W. Bush experienced after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in 2005," CNN said.

Perceptions of Bush as a strong and decisive leader dropped as much as 10 percent to 52 percent after Katrina, which flooded New Orleans and wreaked havoc along the Gulf coast.

Wednesday's poll found that the number of Americans who believe Obama is tough enough to handle a crisis has dropped 11 percent to 53 percent from the same period last year.

However, Obama's overall approval rating remains steady at 50 percent, compared to 51 percent in January.

Bush, on the other hand, experienced a six point drop in his approval ratings between September and October 2005, sinking from 45 percent to 39 percent, according to the poll.

About a third of those surveyed heard Obama's speech Tuesday night, his first from the Oval Office. Of those, fifty-three percent said their reaction was "very" or "somewhat" positive.

more

Still, let's analyze the spin:

Obama dropping seven points since January and 11 percent since last year this time is the same as Bush dropping 10 percent after Katrina?

[mrcheerful]

1. Well yeah its right wing nut math after all, just like 1 D getting a BJ = 28 R's having

gay sex, its all fair and balanced you know.

[Milo_Bloom]

2. Ummm, well, yeah according to your post.

There are a million reasons why the comparrison is idiotic, but showing that faith in Obama has declined in an amount statistically similar to bush isn't one of them.

[ProSense]

3. "There are a million reasons why the comparrison is idiotic...

but showing that faith in Obama has declined in an amount statistically similar to bush isn't one of them."

Actually, it is one of them. Any number of factors could have contributed to the drop in Obama's numbers during the periods from last year and since January. In fact, any decline prior to April 20 cannot be attributed to his response to the disaster.

On the other hand, Bush dropping 10 points after, repeat after, Katrina can directly be attributed to his response.

[Milo_Bloom]

16. Or any other number of things that bush did wrong during the same period.

Same argument cuts both ways.

Pick a decent reason, not the one where the statistics don't agree with you.

[niceypoo]

4. Wasn't Haiti Obama's Katrina?

The underwear bomber was Obama’s Katrina, H1N1 was Obama’s Katrina, The General Motors bankruptcy was Obama’s Katrina and the Fort Hood shootings were Obama's Katrina.

Hmmmmmmm, Im seeing a very subtle pattern emerging here...

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JJEhhm0vuf0/SzeN1ij6FiI/AAAAAAAAARw/0Izo9eLsQvs/s320/The+Party+that+Cried+Wolf.JPG

[Jennicut]

8. LOL. Everything was. What is left?

[Laelth]

5. Obama's teflon rivals or surpasses Reagan's. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[depakid]

10. Not for long... come back in September, after hurricane season

[treestar]

6. The Decider was just so decisive

He was such a "leader" you know. :sarcasm:

[jenmito]

7. This poll was taken before the $20 billion that Obama got from BP was

announced. That probably would've improved those numbers.

[depakid]

9. The catastrphe is still in its early phases- and blame has yet to be fully apportioned

When it is, the administration's every mistake and especially its corruption and ineptitude in the days leading up top the cynical triangulation and sell out of progressive policies on off shore drilling will be on full display.

So better increase your typing and cut & paste skills up to speed.

This is the single biggest miscalculation in modern political history- and there will be a price to pay down the line.

[ProSense]

11. "the administration's every mistake and especially its corruption and ineptitude "

What?

[depakid]

13. You don't pay any attention- and could care less, so what's the point of going into it?

Biggest display of corruption and ineptitude- AND biggest political miscalculation in modern American political history. Indeed, it's right up there with any in American history- going back the the Alien & Sedition Acts.

The investigative pieces by Rolling stone- and the one by the Miami Herald are just the very beginning and tip of the iceberg.

Most people still haven't come to grips with the magnitude and extent of the catastrophe- and so aren't all *that* angry yet. But down the line, they will be- and it's entirely possible that even Salazar's head won't be enough.

[ProSense]

14. "The investigative pieces by Rolling stone"

:rofl:

[depakid]

15. There'll be tons more to come

as the months go on- and people aren't going to be in any mood to listen to self serving and condescending spin.

What they will be is angry and picking apart every decision, action and inaction both before and after- looking to place blame. Nothing this administration- or any administration can do to stop that process- or the overwhelming amount of damage their own policies and regulatory failures have caused.

[ProSense]

12. "This is the single biggest miscalculation in modern political history"

Gulf clean up: more than three times the manpower and five times more vessels than Exxon effort

Exxon clean up:

How was the spill cleaned up?

Complicated question. It took more than four summers of cleanup efforts before the effort was called off. Not all beaches were cleaned and some beaches remain oiled today. At its peak the cleanup effort included 10,000 workers, about 1,000 boats and roughly 100 airplanes and helicopters, known as Exxon's army, navy, and air force. It is widely believed, however, that wave action from winter storms did more to clean the beaches than all the human effort involved.

link

Gulf clean up:

By the Numbers to Date:

• The administration has authorized 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to participate in the response to the BP oil spill.
  
  
• More than 27,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
  
  
• More than 5,400 vessels are currently responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
  
  
• Approximately 2.3 million feet of containment boom and 3.1 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 450,000 feet of containment boom and 1.9 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
  
  
• Approximately 19.9 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
  
  
• Approximately 1.26 million gallons of total dispersant have been deployed—833,000 on the surface and 382,000 subsea. More than 529,000 gallons are available.
  
  
• More than 178 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 4 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.
  
  
• 17 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines.
  
  
• To date, 68.2 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline has been impacted by BP’s leaking oil—34.8 miles in Louisiana, 10.8 miles in Mississippi, 7.2 miles in Alabama and 8.7 miles in Florida.
  
  
• Approximately 78,000 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters remain closed to fishing in order to balance economic and public health concerns. 68 percent remain open. Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov /.

link

When the spin clears, the critics will look foolish.

[MadMaddie]

17. They already look foolish

They are trying to use every incident that occurs to bring the administration down. The people that will speak the truth will be the impacted Gulf residents.

[Balbus]

18. This isn't Obama's Katrina...

This is Obama's 3am phone call. The one Hillary warned us he wouldn't be prepared to answer - and she was right. I am so grateful he wasn't president when 9/11 happened.