Posted on 10/02/2009 4:45:17 PM PDT by kingattax
The latest Fox News/Opinion Dymanic poll is chock-full of bad news for the president. But on foreign policy, the results are nothing short of stunning.
On who they trust more to decide the next steps in Afghanistan. 66 percent say military commanders, while only 20 percent say the president. Even Democrats have more faith in the military commanders (by a 45 to 37 percent margin).
On Iran, 69 percent say Obama has not been tough enough, including 55 percent of Democrats. Sixty-one percent favor a U.S. military action, if needed, to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Fifty-one percent think Obama apologizes for American too much.
Less than a year into his presidency, this is a remarkable and widespread loss of confidence in the presidents handling of national security.
This should actually come as no surprise. Neither his rhetoric or his decision-making to date has projected strength. He spent months arguing that we should close Guantanamo and dump the terrorists into the U.S. or into other countries. The voters disagreed.
He dithers on Afghanistan, and the voters no longer see him as the best person to set our course.
He sends video valentines to the mullahs, delighting in the notion that we can talk them out of their nukes, and waits for Russia and China to climb onto the Obama bandwagon (or Israel to do the dirty work for us). And Americans overwhelmingly see his performance as weak.
In short, Obama has already achieved what it took Jimmy Carter an entire term to attain: the conviction of a large majority of the American people that he is not protecting our interests or performing adequately as commander in chief.
He can either stiffen his resolve to confront Americas foes or continue his decline.
World events are unlikely to help himthey will only highlight his shoddy performance as our adversaries, seeing exactly what Americans do, begin to test and challenge the U.S. at every turn.
Joe Biden had a single correct insight during the campaign about foreign policy: Obamas mettle would be tested, and its not going to be apparent thats were right. For once Biden has proved to be the master of understatement.
Whatever you might say about GWB, he was not "a complete incompetent" as C-I-C.
He listened to and supported his commanders in the field. He won a friggin' major engagement and liberated 25 million people, fer cryin' out loud.
Did he make mistakes? Of course. Because his advisors -- whom he trusted -- made mistakes. No President -- nor their advisors -- has ever been prescient in time of war.
But, in the end, the idea is to WIN. And, in Iraq, Bush seems to have done exactly that (if Obama and the Democrat Congress don't screw it up).
I'll give you the other two, though...
Not me. Never had any in him to begin with.
Most union members I know voted against obama. obama did get 97% of the union goon boss vote.
Well he FINALLY listened to those of us, beging and pleading for more troops in Iraq. Took him a long time to realize we were right and he FINALLY committed the troops needed to win there. So I'll give him a B on CIC. C for Iraq and A missile defence. The other two get an F as CIC.
You state that like it's fact, and not the hypothesis that it is.
There are strong indications that BHO may not even complete his term, due to the gathering storm of legal challenges to his eligibility.
Add to that, the fact that he will lose the compliant and complicit Democrat majority in Congress next year - which will make him a de facto lame duck, just halfway into his term.
Then there are his ever sliding poll numbers. They're going down, because Americans who voted for him are seeing just what an inept, and wholly inadequate executive he is. Obama has done little to instill confidence in the American people, and much to make them fearful of him being in charge.
Our economy has sunk to near historic lows on his and the Democrats' watch. He's done nothing during his term so far, to address the systemic and root causes of our economic troubles. In fact, everything that he and his Democrat congress have done, has made things worse.
So, tell me why it is you think this man stands even a slim chance of being re-elected?
Perhaps he has a stronger version of Kool-Aid stashed somewhere? I doubt it.
.......if one never had any faith in obama, then there can’t be any faith lost. Great to see others waking-up though.
You may be right.
The only union members I’m personallyfamiliar with are the UAW (I’m a GM retiree)
They sure didn’t vote for any Republicans after Reagan.
The Teamsters maybe not so much?
You know SEIU, UFCW, AFSCME and NEA are totally Obama.
What???
All those groups put together don't amount to more than 20% of the population. He'll have to get a sizable majority of the mushy middle (40%) to win again - and that isn't going to happen, because they're already moving into the Strongly Disapprove column in droves.
No, Bozo shot his wad in his last campaign. He was supposed to walk on water, stop the seas from rising, lift every soul out of poverty, command the sun moon and stars into alignment, yada, yada, yada...
Naturally he couldn't do it, and has proven that he can't even do a mediocre job of leading the country.
I'm sorry, but Obama has been heading straight to the basement since inauguration day, and is unlikely to change course. He's going to wind up having the lowest approval numbers of any president on record before his term is up.
He had his chance to do something great, but he's made of the wrong stuff. Trust me, he won't get another shot.
America is becoming a deeply divided country.
Baraq will still have devoted 90%+ support from the groups he is pandering to (minorities, illegals, dead voters, union members, non taxpayers, welfare recipients, etc) plus the whole hearted support of SCM.
The Baraqqis are bogged down like German tanks in Russia at 40 below zero, but the toughest fighting lies ahead.
Again - all of those groups amount to no more than 20% of the American electorate.
Where's he going to get the rest of the votes that he needs to win a presidential election?
We disagree on the numbers.
We agree to disagree.
I very much hope your numbers are correct.
His father was a British and Kenyan citizen. Obama has never released the most basic documents that would clarify his natural born status.
No need to agree with me. Those aren't my numbers. They've come from polls of likely voters done this year, and over the last few decades.
Perhaps you don't remember the recent news about the polls that were conducted which revealed that over 40% of Americans consider themselves to be conservative, while just 20% consider themselves to be liberal. The balance of about 39% consider themselves to be moderate. These poll results were discussed here, and on talk radio for at least a week.
This really isn't "news", per se. Previous polls (going back decades), asking the same question, have revealed a similar split. The left has never had a majority in this country. The only way that they've ever won elections, is to convince a sufficient number of squishy moderates to vote their way.
America is a center-right country, as borne out by these polls. Always has been.
Surely by now, she's thinking, "I lost to...him?"
Just like it took every wartime President since the dawn of the Republic a "long time" to realize that somebody -- besides his initial commanders and advisors -- was "right".
No war has ever been won without mistakes...in hindsight. No President has ever been right, all the time.
I'm not going to criticize FDR for Kasserine Pass, Harry Truman for Chosin Reservoir, nor GWB for Fallujah.
If your judgment in such matters is perfect, well, then, congratulations.
The important thing, though, is that, in the end, Bush won.
So you think Bark O has a better chance of re-election than Jimmy Cartridge ?...I wouldn’t bet the family car on it...
Thank you T.G.John...Just reading that brings a smile to this old face...
From meadsjn: "My confidence in Obama has not diminished a bit. I had every confidence during the campaign that Obama fully intended to destroy the USA, its economy, its culture, its people, and its standing among nations."
meadsjn - I find it astonishing that any person with 2 brain synapses to rub together is still discussing or considering the notion that inexperience or incompetence is driving outcomes from BHO...???!!!
I heard a woman voice that inability today when I explained that never had we had a president who tried to nationalize the banking, auto, insurance, and medical industries, and others to come, but it is happening: "I simply cannot believe that someone would do that on purpose."
It most certainly isn't happening by accident. "Oops, I slipped, and dragged the whole USA into the communist pit of doom."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.