Zogby: Obama's Hiding Out in the Middle

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: 134

"It was a bad week for the president, but just as dismal for Republicans. Once again, Obama was reduced to being a calming rather than powerful presence as the stock market nose-dived, the nation's credit rating was reduced to AA+, Europe lurched on the edge of default and the Taliban killed 30 American special operations forces in Afghanistan. Liberals are coming down hard on Obama and want him to use government to pump up jobs. The party base's unhappiness may eventually translate into softening of support for him. But the president seems determined to stay the course of compromise and reasonableness, expecting that contrast with Tea Party Republicans will get him re-elected. Voter contempt for all of Washington couldn't be much worse, but more lay blame on a GOP they see as having brought on the debt limit crisis. The middle is now a lonely place for Obama, but it may be the only road that will navigate him through our economic minefield and to re-election." 

This week's grade: D

Last week's: C-

John Zogby is Chairman of the Board and Chief Insights Officer for IBOPE Zogby International, a non-partisan public opinion, research, and business solutions firm with experience working in more than 70 countries around the globe. IBOPE 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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