"The erosion comes mostly among Democrats, a record 20 percent of whom disapprove."

[WillyT]

HUFFPOLLSTER: With Florida Special Election Over, The Spin Begins
By a narrow margin, Republican David Jolly wins a special election in Florida that polls said would be close. One new national poll has Obama falling to an "historic low," while another finds the "biggest positive change" ever. And a study finds the secret to increasing voter turnout: a good night's sleep. This is HuffPollster for Wednesday, March 12, 2014.
Mark Blumenthal & Ariel Edwards-Levy - HuffPo
Posted: 03/12/2014 5:41 pm EDT Updated: 03/12/2014 6:59 pm EDT Print Article

<snip>

OBAMA: WORST APPROVAL EVER OR 'BIGGEST POSITIVE CHANGE'? HuffPollster: "What kind of year is 2014 shaping up to be for President Obama? Two just-released polls tell significantly different stories, with one finding him plunging to a career low and another seeing him recovering notably after a difficult few months. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday puts Obama's ratings at just 41 percent -- "his worst job approval rating in the survey’s history" -- and just above President George W. Bush's rating heading into the 2006 midterms, which cost Republicans the House. The erosion comes mostly among Democrats, a record 20 percent of whom disapprove. A Bloomberg poll from Tuesday night, however, finds Americans evenly split on Obama, with 48 percent approving, up 6 points from December. That jump is "the biggest positive change of his presidency," according to the pollsters, due partially to a significant increase in support among independents, young adults and women." <HuffPost, NBC, Bloomberg>

<snip>

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/12/fl-13-loss_n_4952133.html

[JoePhilly]

1. Strange that you didn't bold the sentence about the Bloomberg poll.

On second thought, its not really all that strange.

[WillyT]

3. I'm Not Worried, Nor Necessarily Encouraged, By The Bloomberg Poll...

I'm worried that 20 percent of the base has gotten discouraged/given up.

You think that number reflects Republican/Tea-baggers that have left the President ???

Hahahahahahahahaha...

[JoePhilly]

7. You only see what you want to see.

Another recent poll showed Dem support for the President at 85%.

The way you decided what to bold indicates which type of information you will see as most relevant.

The fact that the different polls disagree goes downplayed or perhaps even unnoticed.

Here on DU, I've noticed some think Sink wasn't a great candidate. Some have claimed she was really just a DLC, 3rd way type candidate.

So tell me, out in the real world, would you have enthusiastically encouraged Democrats to vote for her? Or, would you have bemoaned her 3rd way status?

Its an important question because you want to claim that Obama is discouraging Democrats from voting. Yet here on DU, there are a set of folks who do the exact same thing, and they do it intentionally.

[Glitterati]

37. You want to talk "real" world?

Here's MY real world:

Qualifying for the May 20 primary ended Friday with no Democrats qualifying in Forsyth County. That means all the local races will be decided well ahead of the General Election in November.
http://www.forsythnews.com/section/1/article/22820/

Get those pom poms going!

[BeyondGeography]

2. Yet another day of poo flinging from you

Can't you go play somewhere else for 12 hours?

[WillyT]

4. No... But You Can Live In Denial All Day Long...

[Glitterati]

6. Wait a minute....

while I understand that we all hate to hear things like this, and on a personal level I won't follow a Huff Post link and give the ad money, still.......

Do you just not want to know what the situation is? Is it just because it comes from WillyT or are you simply opposed to having bad polls posted on DU at all?

I, personally, don't think the President's "popularity" plays much in a mid term election when he's not even running, but I still want to know what the polls are saying rather than stick my head in the sand and keep repeating "we're gonna win, we're gonna win" to myself.

Perhaps the old saw of "all politics is local" will help ease your angst. While voters may hate all of Washington, DC, they tend to vote for "their" representatives to send them back to Washington. Therefore, President Obama's popularity just doesn't play into their thought processes.

Now, on a personal level, I think this is great stuff. Let them keep telling DEMs they're gonna lose the election, because that tends to drive turnout better than most things. Plus, it gives the republicans confidence that they're gonna win, thus driving many of their voters to just sit back with overconfidence and not bother to go to the polls.

[JoePhilly]

8. Your last paragraph has it backwards.

People vote because they think they can win. They want to be part of it.

When people think their candidate can't win, they stay home because its not worth the effort.

That's why the GOP/Media strategy for the last 5+ years has been to push messages that ANGER Republicans, and DISCOURAGE Democrats.

That's why the media claims (a) Obama is a socialist, but that (b) Obama is a corporatist.

Notice those messages are opposite, by intent. The first is intended to anger Republicans, the second is intended to discourage Democrats.

That's also why you see a message on the left arguing that Obama is the same as a Republican. If that's true, Democrats might as well stay him. Elections don't matter.

The goal is to discourage voters on the left, so they stay home.

[Glitterati]

12. Democrats don't need help from the press

The base is so demoralized by lack of action by the Democrats, they most certainly do not need the press to help them out.

Harry Reid uses the unemployed as political theater - hell, those 50+ votes by Republicans to overturn Obamacare are evidently very appealing to Reid. He's decided to use the unemployed to do the same thing! Hell, he's going to vote AGAIN on unemployment just so he can send the bill to the republican House for them to kill it.

Nancy Pelosi - she's just plain MIA. The woman hasn't said word one in MONTHS.

And, as for Obama, but excuse me for pointing out that it took 6 years for him to realize that some folks aren't getting overtime? Nice of him to notice. Finally!

The Democrats are doing just fine without any help from the press demoralizing their base.

[JoePhilly]

16. You just explained the goal of the GOP's obstruction strategy.

Since the day Obama took office, they have tried to block all "action" ... and then, with media help, they've work to get folks just like you to blame the Democrats for the "lack of action".

Which you just did.

So Congratulations. You are helping them.

[Glitterati]

17. ROFL, OK

you're really having one of head in the sand days. I get it. I'll leave you to your Obama cheerleading.

Sorry, but you aren't going to win ANY elections with this kind of behavior.

Do you realize that pointing your finger at republicans and yelling bad, bad, republicans doesn't win elections?

[JoePhilly]

20. Obama (with my help) has already won two election, both in landslides.

Keep helping the GOP, I'm sure they appreciate it.

[Glitterati]

22. I'm sorry facts get in your way

But, you most certainly don't need any help from me in your effort to point and yell "bad, bad republicans."

We're not even in the game when we sit on the sidelines with our pom poms cheerleading while we lose.

[JoePhilly]

23. What facts did you present exactly?

I didn't see any.

[Glitterati]

24. It's quite clear you didn't see any

you just brushed right past them, ignored every word, refused to address any of the points. Facts are too hard to deal with, so you resort to finger pointing and waving your pom poms.

Here's some facts for you.

My daughter is 18. She's in college and working her ass off at a right wing owned retail store for 7.25/hr. and last night, the transmission dropped out of her car.

So, now she's facing a several thousand dollar repair bill on a car she's still paying for ($249.00/mo) living not only paycheck to paycheck, but penny to penny.

Do you REALLY think your pom poms are going to get her to the polling place? And, even if I do manage to get her to vote, there's not one DEMOCRAT on her local ballot. Not one DEM running for office.

ROFL, yeah, keep waving those pom poms while the rest of us deal with REALITY.

[JoePhilly]

28. My son is 20. You think you're the only one here with kids?

Personal anecdotes are not DATA.

Also ... why does an 18 year old have a car payment of $250 a month? Who thought that was a good idea?

My son has a used car. He worked, saved, and paid cash for it. No payments.

I love folks like you who think their reality is unique or not shared by others posting here.

You world view is rather myopic.

Keep blaming the Democrats, because I'm sure THAT will get your daughter to the polls.

[Glitterati]

30. ROFL, rah rah!

sis boom bah!

Pom poms are fun!

[tularetom]

36. EVERYTHING makes republicans angry and almost everything discourages Democrats

That's in the DNA.

Media treatment of any issue would be completely different if the press thought their reporting would piss off a lot of Democrats. But they know that the Democrats will just sit around and pout about any unfavorable story instead of taking action to counter it. Consequently, our guys are an easy target, while the other guys fight back.

Subliminal media messages don't make Democratic voters stay home. Their passive nature makes them do it.

[BeyondGeography]

10. To be fair, it's a slightly upscale version of Faux Left

The negative stuff is in bold, but he did leave the positive stuff in there.

But we are headed for yet another day of why the world is ending because of Obama.

[Glitterati]

15. Sadly, the opening is created

by the Democrats themselves. They don't need any help from Huffpo or FAUX or Bloomberg or anyone else.

Harry Reid uses the unemployed as political theater - hell, those 50+ votes by Republicans to overturn Obamacare are evidently very appealing to Reid. He's decided to use the unemployed to do the same thing! Hell, he's going to vote AGAIN on unemployment just so he can send the bill to the republican House for them to kill it.

Nancy Pelosi - she's just plain MIA. The woman hasn't said word one in MONTHS.

And, as for Obama, but excuse me for pointing out that it took 6 years for him to realize that some folks aren't getting overtime? Nice of him to notice. Finally!

Those of us sitting out here on the edge of poverty and losing everything have been waiting for some help. We're not getting it. Hell, given the Farm Bill just signed by the President and voted on by the Democrats, we're falling further down the hill!

[BeyondGeography]

25. The Republican House is a fact, the filibuster is a fact, the system is set up for owners

That's a fact, too. When states with less than a million people get the same number of Senators as states with 20-30 million people, you know the people in their totality are going to be terribly under-represented. Our beloved founders were bent on frustrating change as much as anything and they were awesomely successful.

Obama spent too much time waiting for the Republicans to be reasonable, that's a fact, too. But he did something any fair-minded person should respect: He won. He beat THEM. Walking a fine line was part of it, it will be part of it for any Democrat. Our party, at its best, is about taking what the powerful have not productively earned and don't deserve and returning it to those less powerful so that the greater good is served. That is a much tougher assignment than giving rich people more money and manipulating popular emotion, which is what the other side does (with the help of the MSM). Can we have some basic recognition of that here?

I have no problem with your post; Obama has been overly cautious at times. Many times, for my tastes. But he has also kept the barbarians away from the hand controls for eight years when all is said and done. "Better late than never," is a far sight better than, "Never," which is where we'd still be without him on any number of fronts.

[Glitterati]

29. You know....

here's the deal....I adore Obama. Hell, as a man and a President, he's amazing. No one could say any less.

But, the bottom line is simple - we're dying out here. Those of us on the edge are just falling off waiting for the Democrats to provide some relief. Political theater isn't getting the job done. Harry Reid's unemployment votes are nothing more than political theater - using the unemployed to gin up a reelection strategy! Do you have any idea how CRUEL that is?

And, here ya go...here's how effective our local Democrats are:

Qualifying for the May 20 primary ended Friday with no Democrats qualifying in Forsyth County. That means all the local races will be decided well ahead of the General Election in November.
http://www.forsythnews.com/section/1/article/22820/

Somehow, I feel like the effort to get my 18 yr. old daughter to the polling place for her first election is going to be moot.

[JoePhilly]

19. See my response to Glitterati, above your post.

Glitterati, perhaps unknowingly, blames the Democrats for the lack of action that's actually caused by the GOP's obstruction strategy.

Which is exactly what the GOP's strategy has been. Block everything, get folks to blame Obama and the dems for all lack of action.

This is what we're up against.

[Scuba]

5. Willy, you're only supposed to post good news on DU. It's the GoodNewsDemocraticUnderground.com.

[JoePhilly]

9. He did post some good news.

He just didn't bold it.

[FSogol]

11. What's funny here is that the same folks who tell us the Demcrats are doomed

because Alex Sink lost, are the same folks that told us the Democrats are doomed because of the Virginia Democratic sweep.

Whatever the facts, whatever the outcome, we're doomed! Doooooooooooomed!!1!

[JoePhilly]

14. I used to think ...

... that it was only right wing folks who saw everything in black and white.

And given that, they'd take a position, and then keep or discard new data in accord with their predetermined conclusion.

I now know, that also happened on the left.

Another interesting thing here. Apparently, Dems are not going to vote because they are discouraged by Obama.

And the same folks pointing that out, spend pretty much everyday coming to DU complaining about all most all the Dems, basically discouraging folks from voting for the Dems. Kind of ironic.

[FSogol]

21. Agreed. I can only conclude that they want the Republicans to win because

1. They are indeed republicans, libertarians, or tea baggers.
2. They want the republicans to win so they can complain more.

I've always felt that there is a "suppress the vote from the left" movement around here that believes that if things got bad enough, things would change. They work against the Democratic party to make that happen.

[WillyT]

26. Or 3.) Bridge Out Ahead !!! - Commonly Know As A Warning, So One Can Take Measures To Avoid Tragedy.

[FSogol]

31. More of an "all bridges everywhere will always be out" type of attitude.

Honest warnings wouldn't always be anti-Democratic party

[riqster]

33. This is true:

"believes that if things got bad enough, things would change. They work against the Democratic party to make that happen. "

Nader and others in 2000 are but one documented example.

[WillyT]

27. Yep... Gimmee That Old Time Religion...

[fascisthunter]

40. It's the Bad News Which Should Motivate Folks to Make things Better

anyone hiding their head in the sand is part of the problem. It's an interesting phenomena...

[BlueStreak]

13. There is a price to pay for ruunning a Presidency that has been almost as far right

as the Bush regime in many important respects, most notably the security state and the runaway criminality on Wall Street.

When Democrats no longer support Obama, it isn't because he was too progressive, that's for sure.

[ProSense]

18. Does this mean

"The erosion comes mostly among Democrats, a record 20 percent of whom disapprove."

...80 percent approve?

The NBC/WSJ has always showed low approval of the President, which is why the intro to the OP snip is phrased as a question. Here is the next paragraph:

On average, little change in either direction Bloomberg's polling in the past two years has generally produced results slightly more positive toward Obama than the average of all public polls, including NBC/WSJ. Other recent surveys of the president's approval rating put him somewhere in the middle -- the latest Rasmussen and Gallup trackers give Obama a 45 percent approval rating, while surveys released this week by CNN and the Democratic firm PPP have him at 43 percent. HuffPost Pollster's average currently puts Obama's approval rating between 43 and 44 percent, almost unchanged since the beginning of 2014.

Here are the NBC/WSJ approval numbers since September 2013:

Sept: 45
Early Oct: 47
Late Oct: 41
Dec: 42
Jan: 42


In fact, if you compare the month before the 2012 election to the current, here is how it stacks up:

Oct. 2012

Very/Somewhat Positive 49 percent
Very/Somewhat Negative 43 percent
Neutral 8 percent

Mar. 2014

Very/Somewhat Positive 41 percent
Very/Somewhat Negative 44 percent
Neutral 15

The biggest jump is in the "neutral" category. "Negative" has been consistent.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/A_U.S.%20news/US-news-PDFs/14133%20MARCH%20NBC-WSJ%20Poll%20(3-12%20Release).pdf


Edit: still working on that coffee.

[woo me with science]

32. Third Way Democrats have only themselves to blame.

Democrats could have had and kept overwhelming support all along. They chose instead to fellate Wall Street and insult Americans with empty words and predatory policies.

[WillyT]

34. Yep... Neo-Liberalism... Never Trust Any Group That Starts With "Neo"...

[xchrom]

35. du rec.

[woo me with science]

38. kick

[Autumn]

39. Since Obama is not running for any office and will soon leave the one he is in,

why should any Democrats care about his approval rating? Are we supposed to believe his approval rating if they are low will prevent Democrats from voting?

Horse shit. A Democrat will vote for a Democrat who acts like a Democrat. Give them a Democrats who is part republican there's no reason to get out there and vote. Not saying that's what she was but running away from a Democratic victory ( ACA ) cause the pukes think it's broke is just stupid.