A new Gallup poll shows just how racially divided the country has become over the President. The poll shows a whopping 91% of Blacks supporting Barack Obama as compared to only 36% of Whites.
President Obama’s overall approval rating has stayed below 50% and some polls have him in the 30s. This poll shows him at 45%.
Democrats still like Obama by 79% and liberals are just slightly lower at 75%. The poll would suggest that liberals are not altering their views of the President despite his adoption of many Bush era policies, as discussed earlier.
Gallup shows failing popularity in every other demographic group beyond African-Americans:
57%. Hispanics: 55%. Moderates: 54%. Unmarrieds: 53%. Easterners: 52%. Women: 47%. Midwesterners and Westerners: 45%.
Beyond Whites in general, the worst groups are married citizens at 39% and seniors at 38%.
While the Administration has been trying to appeal to conservatives in various areas, it does not seem to be having an impact. Obama has a 23% popularity among conservatives. For Republicans, it is down to 12%.
Source: LA Times
Slarti:
I think Ishobo is talking about real liberals in the classical sense. The ones that believed in the individual as the basis for society. You know like John Locke, Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, Frederic Bastiat and others of that vein.
If you are a real old time liberal there is no way you could support the democratic party of today.
Where have all the old time liberals gone?
eniobob 1, October 4, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Oh by the way,I came across this interesting gem:
“For the second year in a row, using exclusive data developed by Dr. Andrew Schiller’s team at NeighborhoodScout.com, and based on FBI data from all 17,000 local law enforcement agencies, WalletPop reveals the top 25 most dangerous neighborhoods with the highest predicted rates of violent crime in America.”
——————————
I call massive BS on that article/”study”. Look at the supposed “#1 NEIGHBORHOOD” on that list – the area of Chicago bounded by Damen, Washington, Western and Kinzie. I live 5 blocks north of there. Yes, it’s literally “the other side of the tracks”. But, and here’s the big “BUT” – it isn’t a “neighborhood” because there’s very little population in that area. It’s almost entirely industrial. That’s not to say it’s a “nice area,” but it’s far from the worst or most dangerous part of the city.
I figured out what they’re doing – they’re just basing the analysis on Census Tracts, not any “neighborhood” boundary anyone would recognize. This is Census tract 2805 of Cook County, IL. As of the 2000 Census, it had a total population of less than 1,000 – which is pretty small for a whole tract in Chicago. (Tracts are subdivided into “block groups”, and then “blocks” – a “block” is actually about 4 city blocks, typically. Many tracts have populations of 8 to 12 thousand, and the highest is over 18,000 people.) It is by no means a “neighborhood.”
Also, it’s just north of the United Center, where the Bulls and Blackhawks play. I wonder how many of the “279 violent crimes per year” in this area are fights among drunks leaving the games? Or, more likely, drunks being mugged.
I scanned the rest of the list, and I’m not familiar with any of the other Census Tracts (or as they are calling them, “neighborhoods”) in other cities, but I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them are similarly non-populated areas where gangs and bums hang out, thus creating “high per capita” crime stats.
Elaine M.
lol … with appreciation for the wit
Blouise,
I had no idea what the term teabagging meant…until I looked it up last year. I had been wondering why so many people laughed when they talked about the “tea bag” protesters.
Here’s a double dactyl I wrote about Sean Hannity when he was promoting, on FOX News, Tea Bag parties that were going to be held across the country on April 15, 2009:
Higgledy-piggledy
Sean (Moron) Hannity
Proves he’s an idiot
Nightly on FOX…
Blathers ’bout teabagging
Parties and taxes. He’s
Totally (scrotally)
Dumb as an ox.
Slarti,
Thanks but I will remain in ignorance so that I may continue to use the term … I told Buddha I was going to buy one of those yellow/black “Porn for Dummies” books … he tut-tutted me!
I was in fifth grade and attending Sunday School where our teacher was male. He told a funny joke about religion and then asked if anyone else had one. A boy, who had several older brothers, told a long joke where-in the punch line was “My religion covers me from erection to resurrection.”
Nobody laughed ’cause nobody got it. Even the kid who told the joke couldn’t explain what it meant … he was just repeating a joke his brothers told. The teacher’s face turned beet red and when we asked him to explain he told us to ask our parents.
So, a couple hours later I am sitting at the Sunday dinner table with all my brothers, my mother and father, my grandparents, my great aunt, and the minister and his wife. The minister’s wife asked me what I had learned in Sunday School that morning so I told them that we had told jokes but there was one nobody understood and the teacher had told us to ask our parents.
The minister suggested I tell the joke as he was certain one of the adults could explain it. I did. Dead silence for a good thirty seconds … then my grandfather started to laugh … it was horrible. Later that evening my mother explained the joke.
From what I understand, to this day the church still talks about the dirty joke told in Sunday School and the Minister who had to try and explain it to a child during Sunday dinner. When my oldest child was going through Confirmation she came home with the story. It was exactly 32 years later. I didn’t tell her that I was the child. She even had the joke right!
I am scarred for life!
Elaine M.
“Everyone likes to scapegoat unions for problems in our society. Many union workers have made concessions to their companies over the years in hopes of keeping their jobs. The greedy heads of some of these same corporations got huge salaries and bonuses AND got filthy rich while eliminating workers’ pensions, firing/laying off older workers, forcing workers to take pay cuts, or moving their plants to other countries.”
Don’t worry McConnell and Bohner have pledeged to fix that,or have you forgotten:-)
I am sometimes amused by the way Thomas Friedman uses language. I’m not quite sure what he means by the term “radical center.”
Everyone likes to scapegoat unions for problems in our society. Many union workers have made concessions to their companies over the years in hopes of keeping their jobs. The greedy heads of some of these same corporations got huge salaries and bonuses AND got filthy rich while eliminating workers’ pensions, firing/laying off older workers, forcing workers to take pay cuts, or moving their plants to other countries.
Friedman doesn’t have to worry about money…or a pension…or his working conditions…or about having to pay for healthcare insurance. He can always quit his job. He married a shopping mall heiress.
Slarti
Yes, now the Republicans may have the pleasure of holding a majority without being able to move their agenda forward. It should be illumnating for them and may even bring the adults, if there are any left, back toward the center.
Of course the whole shebang could implode and it will be time for Tony C.’s solution though I have been watching for 60+ years and never yet sensed a need for such a drastic move. Third parties usually spring up and act as a pressure valve then things settle down again.
I’ve long said that never has so much said about so few for so long as the Tea Party. All one has to do is look at their local Tea Party websites (they all seem to have one) to see what their agenda really is. The pictures tell it all.
Good thing these statistics totally contradict the idea that a large part of opposition to Obama is rooted in racism! Oh, wait…
Trump considering a “presidential run”? That confirms my theory that for (broadly speaking) Republicans, there are a lot of psudo-candidates for whom the presidential run is a means to other profits.
Take former NY Mayor NounVerb911’s run – “I’ll wait for Florida”!?! In hindsight, the best explanation for that bizarre campaign was that it was only intended to promote his consulting firm, book sales and speaking fees.
Similarly, the endless “Is Newt running?” meme is stoked by the fine example of a human being himself. While he has no capacity for moral reasoning, he is an astute enough politician to know that he has zero chance of winning a presidential election, and a slim chance of winning the Republican primaries. In the mean time, he’s glad to take the free publicity in order to sell books/DVDs and do paid speaking gigs.
Similarly, anyone who is so enthralled by the spotlight and the lucrative opportunities of the right-wing media circus that (s)he would quit their term as governor half way through isn’t terribly serious about an actual run for president. I’ll bet that over the next year or two, she’ll be doing a lot of “exploring” in Iowa and New Hampshire, and reaping the benefits of all the attention and free publicity that it brings…
The Donald fits right in – what a great opportunity for ego-massaging and free publicity…
Blousie,
If you change your mind about knowing the definition of ‘teabagger’…
Blouise :
Makes you wonder dosen’t it?
Slartibartfast
1, October 4, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Blouise,
I am very aware of the not-so-honorable Mr. Traficant – he was my representative when I was living in Ohio for a couple of years. You should be careful though, isn’t ‘trick or treating’ what got him into trouble… 😉
======================================================
Yep … that’s why we do it.
eniobob,
Cleveland is #2 ??!!
Blouise,
I am very aware of the not-so-honorable Mr. Traficant – he was my representative when I was living in Ohio for a couple of years. You should be careful though, isn’t ‘trick or treating’ what got him into trouble… 😉
Slartibartfast
1, October 4, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Come on, Elaine, no one has a hairstyle as bad as James Traficant… And you’re right on the nose about President Obama learning the wrong lessons from President Bush.
*I know I shouldn’t refer to the tea party as ‘teabaggers’, but they were stupid enough to use the term without knowing what it meant…
=====================================================
Since I have no idea what the term teabaggers means and no desire to find out … I always refer to them as teabaggers out of respect for that is how they introduced themselves to me lo, those many months ago.
As to Traficant … he’s from Ohio as is John Boehner … we have so much to be thankful for … we put Traficant’s hair on Boehner’s head and go Trick or Treating …
ishobo,
It’s easy, you just consider the alternative – check out these threads:
http://jonathanturley.org/2010/09/24/biden-laments-the-lethargy-of-democratic-voters/
http://jonathanturley.org/2010/09/28/biden-tells-democratic-voter-to-stop-whining-and-buck-up/
The choice between ‘bad’ and ‘worse’ is much more important than the choice between ‘good’ and ‘better’.
Oh by the way,I came across this interesting gem:
“For the second year in a row, using exclusive data developed by Dr. Andrew Schiller’s team at NeighborhoodScout.com, and based on FBI data from all 17,000 local law enforcement agencies, WalletPop reveals the top 25 most dangerous neighborhoods with the highest predicted rates of violent crime in America.”
See full article from WalletPop: http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/10/04/25-most-dangerous-neighborhoods-2010/?icid=sphere_copyright
I think at point the President may have been trying to herd cats,but now it looks like hes trying to herd roaches.
I am not sure how a liberal could support Obama or the Democratic Party.
Swarthmore mom
1, October 4, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Blouise I read it. I talked about it yesterday to Tony C. Friedman refers to the “radical center”. He views labor unions as an impediment to change.
==========================================================
That’s right … I was busy yesterday and read but didn’t recall that portion of your discussion. My apologies.
I am a huge supporter of Labor and Unions but they are a special interest and can be an impediment to the kind of change Friedman advocates.