About that 2012 election, a majority of Americans now say NObama second term

It's buried way down in the 11th paragraph. But a new CNN / Opinion Research Poll just out finds that only 392 days into his first term, a minority of Americans now favor a second term for Barack Obama.

Just 44%.

In fact, a majority of 52% already say the Democrat does not deserve a second term.

Of course, the ex-senator isn't on any ballot in this year's midterm elections. But, say, you're a fellow Democrat who is on a ballot this fall and Obama's reps came calling for your support for his legislative agenda and you saw his numbers plummeting like this. How likely would you be to hitch your political wagon to a falling star?

Hey, we're talking politics and survival here. That's where the import of these horserace polls comes in this far out from November 2012.

In terms of Obama job approval/disapproval, the CNN poll of 1,023 adult Americans finds 49% yea and 50% nay.

Part of the problem, according to CNN analyst Keating Holland, comes from the perception among a 45% plurality of Americans that Obama belongs to the upper class, which only 4% of Americans identify with.

Holland calls it "the perception that Obama is not a middle-class kind of guy."

Gee, go figure. How so many Americans (Harvard) could possibly get the impression (Chicago's Hyde Park) that Obama and his wife Michelle (Harvard) are out-of-touch members ("corpseman") of the elite upper class (millionaires) is anybody's guess (arugula).

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Associated Press

Comments

[aarghawk]

He IS out-of-touch and always was!!! NO-MORE-Bama PLEASE !!!

[R.S.]

Well, the GOP will still have to produce someone perceived as better than Obama. Nominating Sarah Palin will guarantee Obama a second term.

Also, keep in mind that we've just started seeing some good news in terms of the recession. By 2012, the economy should be well into recovery mode, and then it'll be harder to make arguments against him. All else being equal, if and when the economy improves, his poll numbers will undoubtedly become higher as well.

[Paul Stewart]

Umh, I disagree with your supposition that Obama and his wife are elite. Going to Harvard does not make you elite. They were not born with silver spoons in their mouths like Bush who was presented to be one of the boys. You are really confused, like a lot of Americans. Obama and his wife are what you call educated. That does not equate to elite. Education is a good thing - remember? A very good thing. Intelligence is also a good thing when used with common sense and for the greater good. Creeps me out that it is construed as negative by people the likes of you and others who should know better than to tow such a.... well, unintelligent line....

[Michael Doll]

I am so tired of the press making predictions and polls upon polls. You must have realized that over the years the record of the punditry making accurate predictions is not very good. I am convinced that Republicans are in just as much risk as anyone else of losing their jobs, yet daily the press plays up every dem that retires while giving short shrift to the fact that just as many repubs are taking the same route. I know you guy's love drama, and you really love anything that makes people upset and or angry, but I really wish you would grow up and take your responsibilities to report the facts in a manner that is less sensational and more realistic. After the hordes of the so called freshly awoken citizens have expelled their anger on our government they just might turn their eye's on to the press, who should rightly be the target of their wrath. The ignorance and misinformed members of the American population are your responsibility. You might not have created them, but you sure are taking advantage of their presence.

[Marcus]

I am confused (but not as confused as the 45% of people who think President Obama belongs to the upper class like Senator McCain, etc.). Both the President and the First Lady worked hard, studied hard, took out student loans and had their parent(s) sacrifice so that they and their children could have a better life. You know, the American dream. At the risk of "going there", I believe that those 45% should break open a book, leave the trailer and go to the library and read a newspaper. Look around at all the middle-class whites that are sacrificing so that their children can go to college and have a better life and maybe become President of the United States.

Just because some people can't, or won't do it, doesn't mean they have to "hate" on the ones that do.

[Malie]

Obama's poll numbers are exactly where Reagan and Clinton were at when they were merely a year into their presidency. Unfortunately, we continue to be a "fix it NOW" society and need to have immediate gratification, rather than understand the process of movement in a positive direction. As for the belief that Obama is out of touch with middle class America, what exactly does that mean? The guy grew up in Honolulu, not far from where I did, and was raised by his white grandparents - dysfunctionality is something he knew all too well.

[Prudence]

There's a lot of negative feelings behind those negative poll numbers. A year of being ignored has caused the electorate's pent-up anger to simmer to the boiling point and a lot of elected anything is going to get the spill over! That's not going to simmer down. What the electorate sees is a bad batch of elected officials that need to be removed, so there will be the possibility of new blood that is not deaf and corrupted listening to constituencies and acting transparently.

[Clinton Lovell]

Mr. Obama's ideology has been given the opportunity for a test. It has been expensive to test the progressive premise on spending and economics to be sure, but the lesson will be one that will form the basis of political debate for decades to come.

Today is the anniversary of the so-called Stimulus Bill. Mr. Obama stated the year before the bill's passage we lost 3 million jobs, yet he can't admit that in 2009 we lost 4 million jobs. Nobody appreciates it when you just stand up there and insult our intelligence by telling a patent whopper.

Mr. Obama stated that it saved us from the Great Depression? Saved who? The payout of funds for so-called "shovel ready" projects has (somehow) resulted in two dollars being spent in Democratic districts for every dollar being spent in Republican districts. That's not a coincidence and that's not a stimulus in the sense that the broadest sector of the American economy benefited from the program.

Mr. Obama stated that Mr. Biden would be front and center in making sure that the funds were spent wisely, but that hasn't happened. Mr. Biden is long on derision and dismissive protestations, but a presentation of factual results has somehow eluded his impressive exhalations. Americans see this for what is too; more lipstick for the pig.

The reality here is that we have now seen what these policies really can produce and that is a great thing. Americans are now more interested in understanding fundamental economic issues. They are now coming to understand that government spending comes from their pockets. Soon they will realize that since the government is taking their money to spend on more government, they are the loser in the bargain.

The 2012 election will be about these issues. The progressive movement will have to find a new way forward or face the music. So far, Mr. Obama's inability to admit to his own policy errors prevents him from building a new solution and ruling consensus and that means the nomination will be a fight that Mr. Obama will have to try and stave off, just like Carter, just like Ford and just like Johnson.

We know how those efforts ended and we can pretty much see the path Mr. Obama is taking will end in the same place. It seems America is already headed there; the question is whether or not Mr. Obama is smart enough to put down his own glass of Kool-Aid and start a journey towards reality. No matter what he decides, the winner will be America - with him or without him.

Now that's change we can all believe in.

[Wade]

If someone had told me in November 2004 that Bush would be re-elected, I would have scoffed. But one year into this gentleman's term and the media is reporting his political obituary? Sort of reminds me of the number of times The National Enquirer has reported the impending death of Elizabeth Taylor. Worthless news and lazy reporting.

[Truther]

Take heart electorate. In 2012 we may have a Twilight Zone election between two 9-11 Truthers.

[Levinson & Axelrod]

People expected drastic changes right when Obama stepped on board. It's hard to keep believing when years have passed a little promised changes have actually happened, but in the end, I think it'll be worth the wait.

[Take a number!]

The balance sheet of the Obama admin attracts attention for all the bad reasons.The numbers even when compared to those ''inherited''only spell
doom.The administrators appear to be a bunch of boyscouts ,light years
over their heads.Watch for a tumultuous share holders meeting next Nov.
A massive number of ''career adjustments'' is sure to hit the majority of the
field reps & management.The ongoing exodus of previously appointed officers will look like romper room.

[Rob]

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[Rob]

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