Washington Whispers

Obama’s Q&A With Republicans Gives Him a Boost

By U.S. News Staff

February 5, 2010 RSS Feed Print
  • Comment (4)

Related Articles

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 sees the president's week ending.

John Zogby on Week 54:

National pollster John Zogby gives President Obama a grade of B- for week 55 of his presidency.

The president's Q&A with House Republicans showed Obama at his very best. The Democratic base needed to hear him take on the GOP, and he did it in a manner that pleased them and swing voters. If you have any doubts about that, consider that Fox cut off its live feed of the Q&A before it was over and MSNBC showed the whole thing in a two-hour replay special that night. Obama got back on message by declaring that he is not an ideologue, which was a big reason why independents supported him in 2008. Our polling found Obama getting a post-SOTU-speech bounce that brought his job approval back to 50 percent. The week's turbulence came from debate over whether to keep the Khalid Shaikh Mohammed trial in New York City. So it was a good week for atmospherics, but the big issues remain as implacable as ever.

Grade: B-

Last week: C

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 around the globe. 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 (Random House).

Tags:
John Zogby,
polls,
Barack Obama

You might be interested in...

Reader Comments Read all comments (4)

Add Your Thoughts
Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

In his first year as President, Mr Obama tried to be the nice guy and took a beating trying to the right thing for this country, because eventually he would have to accept responsibility for whatever direction the country went.

1. The Automobile Industry bailout. Alot of folks were against it. Many people still do not understand that the automobile industry does not deal in autos alone but are involved in a variety of industries and businesses that affect our everyday lives. If the automobile industry had fallen, other industries and businesses would have also tanked.

2. The banks could not fail because again, it would have had a domino effect on a lot of businesses and industries.

3. Health care. We need control on Health Care. A good example is the Blue Cross Blue Sheild in Ca. If we do not get a handle on insurance costs, only the well off will be able to afford health ins. This will not include the middle class, because they will be carrying most of the costs. It pains me to see/hear people on television make comments that they do not want to provide medical care for illegal aliens. Taking medical care of illegal aliens does not make a dent in the overall cost for medical coverage in the US. Remember that the majority of us have children and we would want some type of reform to be in place when they become part of the work force. If these reforms are not implemented, our children will not be able to afford medical insurance unless they are in that "well off" group.

And the list goes on.

Mr Obama did not start the downward spiral of this country into the abyss it's headed into. It was on the way. He just happened to be in charge when the dam broke. Democrat and Republican leaders, instead of pointing fingers at each other, use your vast resources to make things happen that will benefit hard working Americans. What's done is done. He promised change rightly so. But he cannot make changes by himself. He made some mistakes and has admitted it. He needs the support of both parties. We can agree to disagree, but get something done. Mr. Obama, it's time to stop being the nice guy.

Venus of VA 1:50PM February 19, 2010

I know that the USSR used their main steam media, Pravda, to educate and control what they wanted their population to know for years. I never thought that such a thing would happen in the U.S. Somehow U.S. journalists have given up their independent reporting and have joined the liberal administration, reporting only the Democratic slant.

I stopped watching Fox News for just one week. Stopped looking at the Drudge Report and only watched MSNBC, CBS, NBC and ABC for that week. I was blown away afterwards by going back to Fox and the Drudge Report and reading and hearing about what was really going on in this country.

So, I can understand now, how so many people in this country can be so blind to the truth and remain ignorant of the things that are happening here. It's too bad, I do hope more people open their eyes and stop being led around blindly.

larry sears of KS 4:05PM February 17, 2010

this article is a joke right?

gloria of FL 4:04PM February 13, 2010

About this blog

About this blog

Washington Whispers has been featured in U.S. News & World Report since 1933, offering a fun, insider's view of Washington.

advertisement

Cartoons

Latest Videos

advertisement