An Upside to Partisanship for Obama
By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Does the partisanship and political anger in Washington have a sunny side for President Obama? Just maybe, says former Clinton spokesman Mike McCurry. "I think there is a new 'silent majority,' and it is the great middle of the political spectrum—the nearly 50 percent of all Americans who self-describe themselves as 'moderate' instead of 'liberal' or 'conservative.' They are mostly moderate and turned off by the polarization in Congress and the media," says McCurry. "They don't identify with the extremes they see in the debate as portrayed by the media." He adds, "I think that will scare people into new behavior, and I think Obama will be the beneficiary because many people have a lot invested in him for the long term; they want him to succeed." What's more, McCurry says, race is a positive element. "We are proud of having elected a black guy president, and we don't want it to be a failed presidency again like his immediate white predecessors."
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Tags: Barack Obama | Mike McCurry
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Real facts
From Gallop
"Since Barack Obama took office as president in January, the Democratic advantage in leaned party identification has shrunk each quarter, from 13 points in the first quarter (52% to 39%) to 9 points in the second quarter (49% to 40%) and 6 points in the most recent quarter (48% to 42%)."
Economy has always been most important to US citizens but because of current Gov Economy is now 2nd.
Rasmussen Reports Survey
Issue
Very Important
Gov't Ethics/Corruption
83%
Economy
82%
Health Care
73%
Nat'l Security/War on Terror
67%
Social Security
65%
Taxes
62%
Education
59%
War In Iraq
49%
Immigration
49%
Abortion
41%
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/
And already we see some evidence of this
On the day this article is published it has been reported that Obama experienced a 6-point upswing in popularity over the previous month, despite a noisy and relentless right-wing attack campaign which included numerous ambush protests of congressmen, "tea party" protests against government, vitriolic name-calling, and a full-court press by the right-wing press. During this time the mainstream media did little to discourage the idea that these attacks did not have broad popular support, and many must have bought into the hysteria in order for his numbers to go down as they did--so what would explain an upswing, in the absence of any good news of the moment? Bedard's analysis would seem to be spot-on as an explanation for why Obama's popularity in the polls could bounce back so effortlessly under these conditions...
wrong
Wrong, it will be the opposite ! The independent voters or more conservative than you give them credit for !!
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