Political coverage over the last week has focused on a series of stories that reflect negatively on the executive branch — but President Obama’s approval ratings have held steady. … There are a lot of theories as to why Mr. Obama’s approval ratings have been unchanged in the wake of […] Read more »
Obama’s rating steady in face of controversies, likely buoyed by rising economic hopes
Majorities of Americans believe that the Internal Revenue Service deliberately harassed conservative groups by targeting them for special scrutiny and say that the Obama administration is trying to cover up important details about the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans last year. But a new Washington Post-ABC […] Read more »
Public Sharply Critical on IRS, Benghazi; But Economy Cuts Obama Some Slack
Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll sharply reject special scrutiny of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service, suspect an administration cover-up of the Benghazi incident and express substantial distrust of the federal government more generally. Yet the national survey also finds no backlash against Barack Obama, at […] Read more »
Partisan Interest, Reactions to IRS and AP Controversies
So far, public interest in a trio of controversies connected to the Obama administration has been limited. Roughly a quarter (26%) of Americans say they are closely following reports that the IRS targeted conservative groups. About the same number (25%) are tracking the Benghazi investigation, and even fewer (16%) are […] Read more »
Ruckus over Benghazi, IRS is driven by politics
Americans are divided over whether to believe the White House on controversies over the Libyan attack that killed a U.S. ambassador and the Internal Revenue Service targeting of Tea Party groups, but they overwhelmingly agree on this: The furors are going to make it harder for President Obama to get […] Read more »
Why Haven’t Obama’s Scandals Hurt His Approval Ratings?
Last week, Obama’s presidency, long noted for its dearth of major scandals compared to previous administrations, somehow pulled a hat trick. Benghazi, the IRS, and the Associated Press leak stories suddenly dominated all the available media coverage of the White House, and it was hard for anyone paying even modest […] Read more »