Obama’s support waning, even among partymen
(NEW YORK) Could it be that US President Barack Obama’s Midas touch is starting to fade a bit, even among members of his own party?
Losing lustre: Mr Obama continues to be comparatively popular. But recent national surveys have shown a measurable drop in his job approval rating
Conservative House Democrats are baulking at the cost and direction of Mr Obama’s top priority, an overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system.
A key Senate Democrat, Max Baucus of Montana, complains that Mr Obama’s opposition to paying for it with a tax on health benefits ‘is not helping us’.
Another Democrat, Congressman Dan Boren of Oklahoma, tells his local newspaper that Mr Obama is too liberal and is ‘very unpopular’ in his district.
From his first days in office, Mr Obama’s popularity helped him pass the landmark US$787 billion stimulus package and fuelled his ambitious plans to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system and tackle global warming.
Mr Obama continues to be comparatively popular. But recent national surveys have shown a measurable drop in his job approval rating, even among Democrats. A CBS news survey out last week had his national approval rating at 57 per cent, and his standing among Democrats down 10 percentage points since last month, from 92 per cent to 82 per cent.
With the economy continuing to sputter and joblessness on the rise, many of Mr Obama’s staunchest Democratic supporters are anxious for his agenda to start bearing fruit.
‘We are eager and impatient, so you’re seeing a little bit of that,’ said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. ‘Elections have results, and those in the base are the most anxious to achieve what’s promised in the election. That’s why Democrats are showing some impatience in reaching our goal.’
Mr Obama won Ohio, a key swing state, by four percentage points in 2008 over Republican John McCain. But the one-time industrial powerhouse has been hit hard by the weak economy, and a Quinnipiac University poll released this month showed Mr Obama with a lacklustre approval rating of 49 per cent.
Mr Redfern argued that the stimulus programme has begun to show tangible results in his state and people shouldn’t expect the economy to turn around instantly.
A similar argument came from Nevada, another swing state Mr Obama carried. Las Vegas City councilman Steve Ross counselled patience, saying that voters in his state want Mr Obama to succeed and that their support would be solidified once they saw stimulus-driven building projects under way.
In Missouri, which Mr Obama narrowly lost to Mr McCain, Democratic strategist Steve Glorioso said hardcore base voters were as enthusiastic as ever for Mr Obama but that there was a sense of disappointment about him among less committed Democrats and independents. — AP
Source : Business Times - 20 July 2009
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