A Very Bad Week for Obama

Pollster John Zogby joins the Washington Whispers team to regularly update our new Obamameter. Each week, Zogby will size up Barack Obama on a specific issue, his popularity, or his job performance and, based on his polling results and expert analysis, come up with a rating of between 1 and 100. In this week's Obamameter, Zogby analyzes the new president's fumbling on Tom Daschle—out as health and human services secretary—and the stimulus and gives him a 78 out of 100.

"All and all, a bad week for the new president. Not just a 'not good' week, this was genuinely bad. Not one, not two, but three tax dodgers reveal a pattern. Weren't these folks vetted? Or did they forget to tell—or did they just not think it was a big deal? Hint: There's not a good answer here. The president allowed the Democrats in the House to write his stimulus package. Note to President Obama: 53 percent [of voters] elected you, not House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Fortunately, voters still love the new president and the Republicans are still the Republicans. Rating: 78."

Last Week's Rating: 87

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).