… Obama’s job approval ratings long ago plummeted from his halcyon postelection days. But the president’s favorability — the catchall measure that pollsters say reflects voters’ gut feelings about a politician — has been resilient. [cont.] Kathleen Hennessey, Los Angeles Times Read more »
In politics, accentuate the negative
… “There’s almost no such thing as ‘don’t know’ when it comes to Obama,” said Douglas Rivers, a Stanford political science professor who also runs the YouGov polling firm. … So when Republican groups spend millions on advertising calling Obama a failure, they’re pushing against a relatively immovable object — […] Read more »
2012 Voter Math Tests Old Limits
… No presidential candidate in a two-person race has ever won the White House with less than 40% support among white voters. On the flip side, no candidate since 1984 has ever hauled in more than 60% of the white vote. In November, both candidates may need to test the […] Read more »
Obama’s Team Taking Gamble Going Negative
… The president’s prospects for re-election now rest in part on one of the biggest gambles of his career: that the benefits of trying to eviscerate Mr. Romney outweigh the costs to his own image and reputation. [cont.] Jeff Zeleny, New York Times Read more »
Romney’s problem: Americans don’t like him as much as Obama, polls say
If you believe the polls, it would appear there is one big factor standing in the way of Mitt Romney being elected president: Americans don’t like him as well as they do Barack Obama. … “We’re not going to win a personality contest. It’s not an election for class president. […] Read more »
If Obama loses the election, here’s why
… How did the administration manage to turn one of the most popular campaign issues of 2008 into one of the major causes of Democrats’ “shellacking” at the polls two years later? In keeping with the most baffling habit of one of our most rhetorically gifted presidents, Obama and his […] Read more »