Nobel Prize, Healthcare Victory Help Obama
Pollster John Zogby updates our weekly Obama Report Card with a grade on the president's performance. Zogby uses his polling, expert analysis, and interaction with major players to come up with a grade and some comments that capture how he see's the president's week ending.
John Zogby on Week 39:
"What started out as a bad week with the International Olympic Committee's rejection of Chicago 2016 turned much better for the president. Leaders have the unique power of appearing larger than their constituencies, and no matter how you spin it, Obama will carry the honor of the Nobel Peace Prize every time he speaks to Congress or meets with heads of state. All the debate and criticism of his winning the prize won't alter that historic fact. At home, action on healthcare reform by the Senate Finance Committee moves a bill much closer to passage. However, the shadow of Afghanistan and the need to make a military policy decision still hovers over Obama. But for now, Obama can sing that great old standard, 'Oh, No, You Can't Take That Away From Me.' "
Grade: B
Last week: C+
John Zogby is president and CEO of Zogby International, a public opinion, research, and business solutions firm with experience in more than 70 countries. Founded and led by Zogby since 1984, Zogby International specializes in telephone, Internet, and face-to-face survey research and analysis for corporate, political, nonprofit, and governmental clients. The firm is headquartered in Utica, N.Y. John Zogby is also the author of The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream
Tags: Barack Obama | John Zogby
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Reader Comments
Obama and bid for Olympics in Chicago
Not a big deal for him in the long run but he should never have gotten involved in it in the first place.
Mostly Agree
Zogby comments are valid. I would say though that the Olympics thing was no big negative for Obama - the press tried to make it into one, though. Heads of state showed for all countries applying. It was not at all odd that Obama showed.
The US has had several Olympics of late, Canada is going to host the next time in Vancouver, and Britain is having one soon too. So many already set for English-speaking countries. The IOC tries to spread it around between continents.
South America has never had a viable bid before, Brazil is a rising industrial country, a tourist destination, and a big sports country (soccer, basketball, volleyball, etc....) so they will really enjoy hosting the event. The IOC decision was a good one. No reason to imply anything broader from it.
GW Bush spoke in 2008 about how proud he was of Chicago and their effort to get the bid. It never used to be about partisan issues - a bid was an American bid. The media hyped the wingnuts' rants, and turned it into something else, but that was not because Obama did anything wrong. If an extreme group of people here cannot root for their own country, then THEY are the ones who should have gotten an "F".
So the grade is not important...but Zogby needs to discern between a poll, and an impartial evaluation of the merits of actions. His overall seemed pretty fair. Just wanted to add my perspective.
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