Zogby: Obama's Afghanistan Speech Didn't Help Him

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 46:

"President Obama's speech on Afghanistan was about as good as it gets—the problem is that the situation there (militarily and governmentally) and here (politically) is not good. So the right got their increase in troops, and the left got an exit strategy. But, in the famous words of a young John Kerry: 'How do you ask the last man to die for a mistake?' What happens if the government there is neither stable nor sufficient at the end of 18 months? The faces of the West Point cadets in Obama's audience said it all: 'We are willing to fight, but not for a lost cause.' And just what is 'winning'? The president has been dealt an awful hand on Afghanistan, and many other things as well. I don't think the speech brought him any net gain.

This week's grade: C-

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 also is the author of The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream(Random House).