Libya, Public Unions Issues Test Obama's Strength

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: 110

"Uprisings in the Midwest and the Middle East tested a cautious president. Obama spoke once in defense of unions and allowed his grassroots Organizing for America to get involved on their side in the battle for Wisconsin. However, Obama has worked too hard portraying himself as a fiscal moderate to risk being seen as too sympathetic to state workers and benefits that some voters resent. Part of the political calculus may be to lay low while the Republicans are engaging in a high risk policy. In Libya, protests and Qaddafi's deadly military response forced Obama to 'strongly condemn' the government's crackdown, but his administration may not have effective options to influence Qaddafi. Our polling and that of others shows some slippage in Obama's approval, as the bump from his Tucson speech and the December tax deal fade from voters' minds. Obama's Justice Department did make the social liberals and gays in the Democratic base happy by coming out against the Defense of Marriage Act."

This week's grade: B-

Last week's: B+

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).

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