Posted on 02/20/2009 11:43:32 AM PST by PresidentFelon
Obama Gets Bipartisan Credit
February 19, 2009 @ 4:10 pm by Hill Staff
Don't forget, in politics, perception is reality. In the battle for the mantle of bipartisanship, President Obama is winning by a mile.
It doesn't matter that Obama got a stimulus bill passed with exactly three Senate Republican votes and not a single House GOP vote. It doesn't matter that both parties turned from talking about bipartisanship to spewing vitriolic accusations of ill will. The American people have spoken, and they're with the president on this one.
A new Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows 66 percent of Americans believe Obama "sincerely tried to reach out and be bipartisan," while just 28 percent said he had not. That includes a surprisingly high 42 percent of those who identify themselves as Republicans (52 percent of GOP voters said no).
But just 33 percent of voters say Republicans tried to be helpful to the president and bipartisan in drafting the legislation. Six in ten voters do not think that's the case.
Voters think Obama's rhetoric on the economy, which has turned decidedly alarmist in recent weeks, is spot on. Seven in ten voters say Obama's assertion that doing nothing on the economy would turn the crisis into a catastrophe and the beginning of a long recession is accurate, while just 22 percent say that's too negative a claim.
In all, though, the verdict on the stimulus legislation is decidedly undecided. 58 percent say the legislation was necessary to improve the economy, and twice as many say the bill will help the economy (49 percent) than hurt the economy (25 percent).
But given the option, just 31 percent would describe the package as a stimulus bill, with 52 percent picking spending bill as a more apt label. A majority of 51 percent support the bill, while 40 percent oppose it, with independent voters almost equally distributed at 45 percent favoring and 42 percent opposing the legislation.
Not that people aren't paying attention; the poll shows 86 percent of respondents were following news about the legislation very or somewhat closely.
And though people are cutting back on their personal spending, there are just some things Americans can't live without. Atop the list of items Americans call essential enough to keep spending money on was internet access, which tied with cable television and associated entertainment at 21 percent. Seventeen percent chose a cellular phone, while one in ten said eating out in restaurants was most important.
The poll surveyed 900 registered voters between Feb. 17 and Feb. 18 for a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
- Reid Wilson
Obama Gets Bipartisan Credit?
Could there be a greater example of a disconnect between perception and fact? And could there be a greater indictment of a corrupt news media that daily propagandizes the public into believing things that are simply not true?
Obama now owns the economy. He purchased ownership of it when he signed a bill to spend nearly a trillion dollars of taxpayer money on his solution to the problem that only three out of 220 republican legislators supported. He can blame George Bush all he wants, but he now drives the car and picked the trip we are going on. If things get dramatically worse his numbers will plummet like a stone.
Worse for the media, they own Obama. They concealed his extreme liberalism and portrayed his as a centrist. They glossed over and minimized his associations with socialists, communists, former terrorists, and the most radical left-wing elements among us. They refused to report his culpability in the housing crisis through his legal work for ACORN that forced Citibank, then every bank, to comply with the Community Reinvestment act and loan money to people that could not pay it back.
The networks and big city newspapers got Obama elected and, whether they like it or not, they own him and every bit of damage he causes.
Our economy is going to get much worse. When it does things will get ugly for Obama, Harry, and Nancy, along with the rest of us. The lone bright spot is the media will have finally killed themselves, because nobody will be able to afford to advertise and the public will finally learn just how corrupt and agenda-driven they are.
Charles McFarling
Indianapolis
‘Don’t forget, in politics, perception is reality. In the battle for the mantle of bipartisanship, President Obama is winning by a mile.
It doesn’t matter that Obama got a stimulus bill passed with exactly three Senate Republican votes and not a single House GOP vote.’
It would have mattered if Snow, Collins and Spector hadn’t pulled a ‘McCain’ on the vote.
We would have had time to at least READ THE BILL.
It is also an indictment of the Republicans who went like silent little lambs.
A big enough stink would have changed perceptions, My Friend.
It seems this poll doesn’t measure the President, it measures the media’s results for informing the public or how truly stupid people are these days.
Well when the unemployment is in double digits people will remember for what this was - shoving it down America’s throats.
“networks and big city newspapers got Obama elected”
And these people are still talking him up even when over 500 people in Arizona protest the fascist pig’s arrival but the story never gets reported by mainstream media.
We have a bunch of dumb a$$es in this country that are allowed to vote.
Hey, MacFarland I’ve got sopme swamp land in Jersey I’d like to sell you.
“networks and big city newspapers got Obama elected”
And these people are still talking him up even when over 500 people in Arizona protest the fascist pig’s arrival but the story never gets reported by mainstream media.
And we are constantly deluged at FR that the MSM is on a deathwatch. They-are-thriving!
Most Americans don't know that Obama’s plan had nothing to do with bipartisanship. Perception is reality. Its not what is actually in the “Porkulus” bill that matters most. Its the high-minded seriousness of Obama's rhetoric that counts most.
Uh oh! Them's fightin words, steve! abb, you've been called out in the street!
“It seems this poll doesn’t measure the President, it measures the media’s results for informing the public or how truly stupid people are these days.”
Exactly. perfectly said.
And we are constantly deluged at FR that the MSM is on a deathwatch. They-are-thriving!
Uh oh! Them’s fightin words, steve! abb, you’ve been called out in the street!
He’s heard from me before and he(to be fair) states his position well in numerous replies to me. I just don’t see it. Obama increases his political with the MSM on a daily basis and the uninformed lap it up.
Those death-watch tags have unfortunately been more a product of wishful thinking then factual analysis.
Wouldn’t a bi-partisan effort be one with compromise?
How long was the debate on this matter?
Orwell loathed Stalinists.
Well, I tend to agree with you. I think they are consolidating, not evaporating.
This is all so damn depressing. I'm taking the afternoon off to stimulate the economy!
Inspires new acronym — PULP (Pure Unadulterated Leftist Propaganda).
Yes, you have it. The MSM has never been more powerful and never have they so blatantly used their power in such a partisan way.
If conservatives continue to allow the liberals to own and control the MSM, the results of last election will only be magnified in the future.
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