Obama is fucked up

[ejected.president]

http://www.gallup.com/poll/125648/Obama-Approval-Among-States-Hawaii-Warmest-Obama.aspx


February 5, 2010
Obama Approval: Among States, Hawaii Warmest to Obama
Wyoming the least approving of Obama in 2009
by Lydia Saad
Page: 12

PRINCETON, NJ -- Of the 50 states, Hawaii gave its native son, President Barack Obama, the highest approval ratings in 2009, with an average of nearly 71% approving of his overall job performance from January through December. Only the District of Columbia delivered a higher average approval rating for Obama, at 90.2%. Neighboring Maryland also ranks high among state approval ratings for the president, with an average of 68.5%.

Top 10 States, Obama Job Approval Bottom 10 States, Obama Job Approval

Obama's home state -- Illinois -- was among the most favorable to him last year, with 65.2% approving. Aside from California and New York, the remaining states in Obama's top 10 are all in New England (Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island).

Hawaii also delivered the highest share of the vote for Obama in the 2008 presidential election of any state (though D.C. was higher). However, all top 10 Obama approval states voted for him in that election, and all are solidly blue in the party identification of their residents.

Obama's overall average approval rating in 2009 was 57.6% (slightly different from the 57% Gallup calculated for his first year, spanning Inauguration Day through Jan. 19, 2010), and he averaged better than 50% approval in 41 states, including Washington, D.C. The states where no more than half approved also represent the bottom 10 states for him. Among these, Wyoming gave Obama his lowest average approval, 41.6%, followed by Idaho with 43.3%. Many of the other least-approving states were in the South (Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama) or West (Montana, Utah, Alaska). Oklahoma is the lone Midwestern state in this category, and West Virginia the lone Eastern state. All of these states voted for John McCain in 2008.

A separate breakdown of the states into three categories finds 21 states giving Obama an approval rating within three percentage points of his national average for all of 2009 (between 54.6% and 60.6%). Thirteen states had an average approval rating of Obama above that range and 17 states fell below it.



The 2009 state-level approval figures are based on combined data for Gallup Daily tracking from Jan. 21 (the day after Obama was sworn in) through Dec. 31, 2009. The presidential approval question is asked of a random half-sample of approximately 500 national adults each night, resulting in more than 170,000 interviews for the entire year. The state sample sizes range from 301 in the District of Columbia and 422 in Wyoming to 17,887 in California. Forty-one states had more than 1,000 respondents. (See full table at end of this report.)

Extent to Which Approval Exceeds Democratic Party ID Varies

Obama's average state-level approval ratings are related to each state's partisan makeup, as would be expected. States with a high proportion of self-identified Democrats tend to be more supportive of Obama than those with lower proportions of Democrats; however, there is not a 1-to-1 correspondence between the two figures.

Because a certain proportion of non-Democrats (that is, Republicans and independents) approve of the president's job performance, Obama's approval rating in each state in 2009 was, on average, about 10 points higher than the percentage calling themselves Democrats (including independents who lean Democratic). However, his average approval rating was significantly more than 10 points ahead of Democratic Party ID in several states, and significantly less than 10 points ahead of it in others.

More specifically, Obama's average approval rating was more than 16 points greater than Democratic Party identification in Utah and Hawaii, and about 14 points greater in North Dakota and Connecticut.

By contrast, his approval rating was less than 7 points ahead of Democratic Party ID in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oregon, and Colorado. And in West Virginia, Obama's approval rating was nearly 7 points lower than the percentage of Democrats state-wide, the only state showing this pattern.

2009 State-by-State Obama Approval vs. Democratic Party ID

Bottom Line

How the residents of each state view Obama continues to be strongly related to 2008 voting patterns. Approval toward him was particularly high in the states that gave him the most support in the 2008 election -- led by Hawaii and Washington, D.C. His lowest support as president came from states that voted strongly for John McCain -- particularly Wyoming and a number of other Western as well as Southern states.

Gallup's "State of the States" series reveals state-by-state differences on political, economic, and well-being measures Gallup tracks each day. New stories will be released throughout the month of February.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 170,370 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Jan. 21-Dec. 31, 2009, as part of Gallup Daily tracking. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±1 percentage points.

The margin of error for most states is ±3 percentage points, but is as high as ±7 percentage points for the District of Columbia. For the most populous states, the margin of error is ±1 percentage point.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on land-line telephones and cellular phones.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

 

[ejected.president]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100206...Ec2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDb2JhbWFzYXlzaGVz


Obama seeks to rally glum Dems amid GOP challenges
AP

*
Buzz up!
* Send
o Email
o IM
* Share
o Delicious
o Digg
o Facebook
o Fark
o Newsvine
o Reddit
o StumbleUpon
o Technorati
o Twitter
o Yahoo! Bookmarks
* Print

Obama: 'Now is the time to do what's right' Play Video AP – Obama: 'Now is the time to do what's right'

* President Barack Obama Slideshow:President Barack Obama
* Obama wants new small business loan program Play Video Video:Obama wants new small business loan program AP
* Obama Appointee Sparks Religious Outrage Play Video Presidential Transition Video:Obama Appointee Sparks Religious Outrage FOX News

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Democratic National Committee AP – President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Democratic National Committee Winter Meeting in Washington, …
By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer – Sat Feb 6, 5:26 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Just a year after celebrating Barack Obama's inauguration, despondent Democrats on Saturday heard from their party leader who urged optimism in the face of Republicans' strong challenge to their congressional dominance.

The president said political leaders must plot their way forward to November with an understanding of the economic difficulties Americans face.

"I understand their frustration. You understand it as well," Obama said.

At its winter meeting, a defiant Democratic Party worked to project a message of strength even as loyalists acknowledged the prospect of several defeats in November. The party that controls the White House typically loses seats during midterm elections at an average rate of 28 net House seats. President Bill Clinton, the last Democratic commander in chief, lost control of Congress in his first term and Democrats privately are predicting it could happen again.

Obama, looking to write his own history, warned fellow Democrats that "we have to acknowledge that change can't come quickly enough."

A government report on Friday put the unemployment rate at 9.7 percent. Distrust of Washington has grown and spurred an anti-Washington sentiment that sent scores of activists to a "tea party" convention in Nashville on the same day. Another sign of the tone: Republican Sen. Scott Brown won a special election to take the seat of the late, liberal Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Democrats also lost gubernatorial contests in Virginia and New Jersey that had been in Democratic hands.

Obama sought to energize Democratic loyalists against what he called "the other party." He urged Democrats to work with their Republican counterparts.

"We can't solve all of our problems alone," Obama said, as the audience sat in silence.

While Republicans have stood in solid opposition to the president's proposed overhaul of health care, Obama insisted he wasn't willing to abandon the domestic priority that has consumed months of his agenda and has fallen short of victory, for now.

"Let me be clear: I am not going to walk away from health care insurance reform," Obama said, bringing the audience in the hotel ballroom to their feet.

Republicans, though, made clear the Democrats' current health proposals must be scrapped.

"If they get past this arrogant phase that they have been stuck in about a year, if they can work their way past that and concentrate on the real problem which is the cost, we are willing to look at it," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "To work together, first you have to do it on a bipartisan basis."

Obama, recognizing his agenda can't be accomplished without GOP support, in recent weeks has been emphasizing the need for bipartisanship as a way of moving forward.

"We can't return to the dereliction of duty," Obama said. "America can't afford to wait, and we can't look backward."

His party, for certain, would prefer not to revisit its ordeals of 2009, which produced some victories but hardly the narrative that would deliver them electoral victories this year.

"I know we've gone through a tough year. But we've gone through tougher," Obama said.

DNC chairman Tim Kaine, the former Democratic governor of Virginia who saw a Republican follow him into office, insisted that Democrats should not be despondent, even if the path forward has become more difficult following the Massachusetts Senate election.

"The ghost of Harry Truman would kill us if he heard us complaining about having only 59 Democratic senators," Kaine said.

Around the room Saturday at the DNC meeting, Democrats sought to remain upbeat.

"The fight's been tough," said Alejandra Salinas, the chair of the Young Democrats of America's Hispanic caucus. "We might lose some seats, but we'll pick up new ones."

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington's nonvoting representative in the U.S. House, said Democrats would continue to keep up the fight.

"They underestimated us four years ago when we took back the Congress," she said. "They underestimated Barack Obama when he took back the White House. The fight is on. Never underestimate Democrats."

Raymond Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said the national Democratic party needs to help state groups deliver the Obama message.

"We can't win in 2010 if all we're doing is celebrating the election of 2008," said Buckley, who is also vice chairman of the DNC. "We haven't gotten out the message of this administration's successes."

 

[ejected.president]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100209...zZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNvYmFtYXNoZWFsdGg-


Obama's health care summit: Just for show?

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, Associated Press Writer – Mon Feb 8, 9:05 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Could this turn into something more than political theater? President Barack Obama's televised dialogue with Republican lawmakers on health care, promised for later this month, has the makings of an entertaining exchange. But the differences between the basic Democratic and GOP ideas are stark — and the two sides have increasingly hardened their positions in this election year.

Yet, in a story with more twists than a soap opera, Obama's invitation to congressional leaders of both parties to attend a Feb. 25 meeting can't be dismissed as a mere diversion. Although many Americans have doubts about the Democrats' sweeping plans to cover the uninsured, Republicans can't afford to be perceived as oblivious to the health care insecurities of middle-class families.

"My expectations? Probably below 50 percent, but not zero," said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., a moderate who serves as president of the Democratic freshman class. "At some point, the public is going to demand that Republicans participate like mature adults, and not just say 'no' to everything."

It's the Democrats' big-government approach — not Republicans — that's the problem, insisted Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., author of the House GOP bill. "The president has got to show that he has heard what the American people are saying. He's got to make clear we are not going to start off with the current bill."

But where to start?

• Democrats want an upfront commitment to cover most of the nearly 50 million uninsured Americans. Republicans prefer first taking steps to cut costs, then revisiting the issue of full coverage over time.

• Democrats would raise taxes to provide government subsidies for people who can't afford to buy health insurance. Republicans say now is not the time to increase taxes.

• Both sides want to bar insurance companies from turning down people with health problems, but only Democrats propose requiring most people to get coverage — a necessary first step, according to most experts.

To illustrate the gap, the House GOP bill would cover 3 million uninsured people, the House Democratic version 36 million.

"That's quite a gulf," said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the No. 2 Democrat in the House. "And if that's where Republicans want to stay, I don't think it's going to be perceived as much progress by the 33 million who would be left out."

After months of seeing Obama try to muscle legislation through with only Democratic votes, Republicans are wary of his new overture. Senate Democrats lost their ability to block a filibuster with the election of Scott Brown, R-Mass., forcing the president to recalibrate.

"This has the feel of a campaign event," said economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a top adviser to 2008 GOP presidential candidate John McCain. "The time to sit down with Republicans was a year ago."

The House and Senate are partisan institutions by design, Holtz-Eakin said. Divided into majority and minority, they sharpen differences. Only Obama could have guaranteed a bipartisan health care bill. "You needed the White House to spend political capital telling the liberal base in the House they weren't going to get everything they wanted," he said. "They weren't able to do that."

The way the health care summit was announced struck some Republicans as suspect. Democrats say the idea came from the White House, and was first broached last Thursday when Obama met Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Hoyer, to discuss the 2010 legislative agenda.

Republicans say they were notified by the White House on Sunday, a couple of hours before a CBS News interview in which Obama floated the proposal. Usually, White House schedulers call congressional leaders well in advance of major meetings.

Democrats say they want to resolve remaining differences between the House and Senate versions of their own legislation before the meeting. That may mean Obama wants to emphasize contrasts with Republicans, not probe for common ground.

The meeting is expected to be held at Blair House, the presidential guest house across from the White House, but the administration has not released any details about the format. "I don't agree this is going to be political theater," said spokesman Reid Cherlin. "This is going to be a substantive discussion about how best to achieve the goals the president laid out."

Starting from scratch is not an option, Democrats say. But Republicans say they can't see the House and Senate Democratic bills as a beginning. For one thing, both would raise taxes.

Reps. John Boehner of Ohio and Eric Cantor of Virginia, the top two House Republicans, wrote White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on Monday saying Republicans would "rightly be reluctant to participate" if the starting point is the Democratic legislation. Previously, Boehner had welcomed Obama's offer.

In response to the letter, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs released a statement contending that Obama is "open to including any good ideas that stand up to objective scrutiny," but would not "walk away from reform."

There are a couple of issues on which Obama could try to nudge both sides.

He could officially bury the government insurance plan sought by liberals. A major obstacle for Republicans, the public option never had the votes to pass in the Senate. Yet Obama has hesitated to declare it dead.

The president could also follow through with curbs on medical malpractice litigation. Although he agrees with Republicans that fear of lawsuits leads doctors to practice defensive medicine and drives up costs, Obama has not insisted that limits on litigation be in the bill.

Any step toward limits — fiercely opposed by the nation's trial lawyers — is certain to draw solid Democratic resistance in a midterm election year. It's unclear how much such a gesture by Obama would help at this point.

"Right now, it is hard to get people to move off positions that they have taken," said Gail Wilensky, who ran Medicare for former President George H.W. Bush. "It's not like there was a bipartisan effort that went to the 11th hour and then fell apart. It was a Democratic package."

___

Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed to this report.