Today’s WSJ contains an editorial titled “Obama’s Poll Numbers Are Falling to Earth” by GOP pollster Scott Rasmussen and Dem pollster Doug Schoen.
In summary, they report: “It is simply wrong for commentators to continue to focus on President Barack Obama’s high levels of popularity … a detailed look at recent survey data shows that … Mr. Obama’s approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001 and that . his net presidential approval rating — which is calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve — is just six, his lowest rating to date.”
For the full article, click to:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123690358175013837.html
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Ken’s Take:
It will be interesting to see how the press covers this column. My bets:
(1) Fox will loop it; CNN will have commentators debunk it; MSM will ignore it completely
(2) No media will push Rasmussen for the more controversial data nuggets: Obama’s PAI (presedential approval index) is near 100% among blacks, around 70% for Hispanics, and negative for whites; Obama’s PAI is negative among investors and taxpayers; and according to FD/Diageo, support for Obama’s programs is only strong among groups who “know little about them”
(3) Robert Gibbs — fronting for Team Obama — will say that the administration doesn’t pay attention to polls … ducking questions regarding Karl Rove’s revelation that “senior White House staff meet for two hours each Wednesday evening to digest their latest polling and focus-group research.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123682426946303905.html
Also, with two consecutive days of bad polls (yesterday, economists gave Obama and Geithner failing grades for their handling of the economy ), it will be interesting to see how Team Obama — known for its rhetorical offense — plays defense.
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Loyal readers of the HomaFiles got a heads-up on this trend almost a month ago.
On Feb. 17, 2009 — using Rasmussen’s data — we posted “Uh-oh … is Obama’s star starting to fade ? ”
https://kenhoma.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/uh-oh-is-obamas-star-starting-to-fade/
On March 2, 2009, we posted a follow-up “Uh-oh … Barack-O’s presidential approval index drops to single digit”
https://kenhoma.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/uh-oh-barack-os-presidential-approval-index-drops-to-single-digits/
This Monday — March 9, 2009 — we posted “So really, how strong is Obama’s approval rating ?”
https://kenhoma.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/so-how-strong-is-obamas-approval-rating/
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The Homa Files 
March 13, 2009 at 10:31 am |
3a) In the same presser Gibbs will cite approval ratings over 60% as evidence for the President’s mandate to reshape the role of the Federal government.
On the economists poll – the WSJ poll is based on economists who work for the private sector – in investment banks or as consultants to industry. The economists who agree with the president tend to either work in the academy or with left leaning non-profits (i.e. The Center for American Progress).
Case in point, Prof. Laura D’Andrea Tyson’s column in the WSJ sounded more like a Pouffe-Axelrod production than a well reasoned piece from a leading academic – and will certainly make me think twice about hiring a Haas grad…