Pollster John Zogby regularly updates our Obamameter. Each week, Zogby uses his polling, expert analysis, and interaction with major players to come up with a rating of between 1 and 100. Unlike his polls, the Obamameter is his judgment on the performance of the president once multiple factors are considered. In this week's Obamameter, Zogby says that the president was slowed by former Vice President Dick Cheney's rap on Guantánamo Bay policies and the right's concerns about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Also, he's facing troubles winning over independents.
"It was just a fair to middling week for Obama. Cheney got more traction than anticipated for his criticisms of Obama on handling terror suspects. Sonia Sotomayor remains a good long-term choice politically, but Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh were able to define her in negative ways that might, for now, appeal to white, working-class voters. Our latest poll shows 45 percent of independents giving Obama a positive job performance, so he has some work to do with them."
This week's rating: 76
Last Week's Rating: 80
John Zogby is president and CEO of Zogby International, a public opinion, research, and business solutions firm with experience working 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 also is the author of The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream (Random House).
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