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: 148
"The president has been largely out of sight, out of mind during his nine-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region for an economic summit in Hawaii and the announcement of a security agreement with Australia. The trip has been at best back page material because of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal and the comedic gaffes of GOP candidates Herman Cain and Rick Perry. Obama's poll numbers continue to crawl in a favorable direction, and one wonders if the Republican candidates are making him look very good in comparison. Obama will come home as the November 23 deadline for the deadlocked budget deficit 'super committee' approaches. Obama has a difficult choice. Does he intervene, possibly making Republicans even less likely to compromise and then risk associating himself with the committee's failure? Or does he stand aside and appear irrelevant? Meanwhile, the most destabilizing action is in Europe, where the debt crisis has brought down two governments and still threatens the entire Eurozone. Obama scolded leaders about their 'problem of political will,' knowing what happens in Europe will surely impact the U.S. economy."
This week's grade: C+
Last week's: B-
John Zogby is chairman of the board and chief insights officer for IBOPE Zogby International, a nonpartisan 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. Zogby is also the author of The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream (Random House).
- See photos of the Obamas behind the scenes.
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- See who's been visiting the White House.
Reader Comments Read all comments (2)
Stacey Bridges of VA 10:58AM November 19, 2011
Elliot McClowery of WA 7:33PM November 18, 2011