Yup...the schism on DU is deepening

[Jackpine Radical]

61. Somewhere around here there's this wonderful poll

that found 80% of "liberal Democrats" approve of Obama.

Well, I feel betrayed in some major ways (e.g. Chained CPI, TPP), while at the same time acknowledging some notable successes. The ACA is not what I would wish for in an ideal world, but it is far better than what exists now, and many people will get coverage who couldn't access it before.

But there is no way for me to express the complexities of my attitude toward the Administration in a phone poll. Even though I have major problems with the Administration's policies, if a pollster were to call me & ask if I support Obama, I would say I do.

I would say this because the poll starts out with the assumption that anyone who disagrees with Obama is doing so from the Right, not the Left. They don't even acknowledge the existence of people to the left of Obama. They give me no option to express my unhappiness with him from a leftist perspective.

If I say I am unhappy with him, the pollsters will take for granted that I'm unhappy because his policies are "too liberal." Therefore, the least inaccurate response I can give the pollster is to say that I'm thrilled with Obama. And I damn well bet that a whole lot of that 80% made the same calculation.