Posted on 07/09/2012 2:51:22 AM PDT by Libloather
Hill Poll: Majority feel Obama has changed country for worse
By Sheldon Alberts - 07/09/12 05:00 AM ET
Two-thirds of likely voters say President Obama has kept his 2008 campaign promise to change America — but it’s changed for the worse, according to a sizable majority.
A new poll for The Hill found 56 percent of likely voters believe Obama’s first term has transformed the nation in a negative way, compared to 35 percent who believe the country has changed for the better under his leadership.
The results signal broad voter unease with the direction the nation has taken under Obama’s leadership and present a major challenge for the incumbent Democrat as he seeks reelection this fall.
Conducted for The Hill by Pulse Opinion Research, the poll comes in the wake of last month’s Supreme Court decision that upheld the primary elements of Obama’s signature healthcare legislation.
It found 68 percent of likely voters — regardless of whether they approve or disapprove of Obama — believe the president has substantially transformed the country since his 2009 inauguration.
The feeling that Obama has changed the country for the worse is strongest among Republicans, at 91 percent, compared to 71 percent of Democrats who support Obama’s brand of change.
Strikingly, 1-in-5 Democrats say they feel Obama has changed the United States for the worse.
Compared to the sentiment about Obama’s impact, fewer people see presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney as a candidate who will change the country dramatically if elected.
Still, 50 percent of people think Romney will bring a “significant” level of change — a finding that may reflect the desire among anti-Obama voters for a reversal of the president’s policies.
Debate about Obama’s first-term legacy has intensified since the Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate to be constitutional.
The healthcare legislation, once fully implemented, would usher in the most sweeping changes to the nation’s social safety net since the 1960s.
To Obama’s supporters, the ruling was a validation of his 2008 campaign theme of “change we can believe in.” At that time, Obama hinted at his ambitions to become a transformative president in the mold of Ronald Reagan.
“I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it,” he told the Reno Gazette-Journal in January 2008.
Beyond the healthcare law, Obama won passage of the Dodd-Frank financial industry reforms, generally viewed as the biggest Wall Street regulatory changes since the 1930s.
In the absence of major immigration legislation, Obama recently eased deportation rules for young illegal immigrants brought to the country as children.
Obama’s ambitions for big change fell short in other areas. He has been unable to pass climate change legislation or repeal the Bush-era tax rates.
On social issues, Obama recently became the first president to endorse gay marriage.
Independent of voter opinions about how the country has changed, The Hill Poll found an overwhelming majority of voters — 89 percent — view the choice between Obama and Romney as important in terms of the future impact on the country.
Almost half (47 percent) say they are paying more attention to this year’s election than the 2008 vote. Republicans are generally paying more attention than Democrats — 56 percent to 44 percent — to the 2012 campaign compared to 2008.
Among centrists, views are evenly split on how Obama has changed the country — with 40 percent saying the United States is better today and 42 percent saying it is worse off. Eighty percent of liberals think Obama has changed the country for the better.
There is a marked difference of opinion along racial lines, with just 29 percent of whites saying Obama has changed the country for the better compared to 92 percent of blacks.
The poll was conducted among 1,000 likely voters on July 5 and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Fret not! It's summertime and we just finished a holiday week with the holiday in the middle of the week. Summer polling tends to lean to the left -- because the Republican/conservative/libertarian core tends to be outdoors and away from home during the summer months. The 'rat core tends to stay at home with the blinds drawn. I'd usually take any polling between Memorial Day and Labor Day with a couple of pounds of salt -- except that Zero's dismal polling during the summer months suggests that it's actually much worse than it looks. And it looks bad.
The current theme of the Obama campaign seems to be: "Yes, we've been screwing things up for the last four years, but that other guy will screw things up even more! So re-hire US!" I don't know when that theme has ever won anyone an election.
The enemy of America is easily recognised.
Our enemy is within.
One could easily draw that conclusion except for the fact that any Dem running for President will draw very nearly that level of support. In the 90's for sure.
If one in five Democrats think Obama has changed the country for the worse, how can the Presidential poll results possibly be right?
If one in five Democrats think Obama has changed the country for the worse, how can the Presidential poll results possibly be right?
Those Democrats overwhelmingly live in blue states/cities where their disapproval is only 20% of the majority.
It can only make a difference in swing states.
The statists want a national popular vote so that every one of their supporters can cancel out every one who wants individualism and liberty. NYC, Chicago and Los Angeles could then decide every national election.
On the State and local levels, where it is a popular vote, more and more Republicans are being elected. That is where the 20% disapproving donks make a difference. Still, in 90% Democrat areas, 70% to 30% is still a majority.
We need 60% or more of Democrats to disapprove in order to counter the vote fraud and to prevent recounts and litigation. 20% is a start, but it is not enough.
It's not a "donk"...it's a JACKASS!
Look it up.
And the Romney vs. Obama percentages are ________________?
Very weird poll.
I've noticed a number of vehicles that had 0 bummer stickers for the past four years that now have scraped them off. I talked to one the other day. He is in his mid 40s and said he would not vote for "the won" again.
I’ve noticed a number of vehicles that had 0 bummer stickers for the past four years that now have scraped them off.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Same here, A family up the street has five cars and all the Obama stickers are gone.
Time to get with you friends and family and tell them straight out, no more voting for Democrats and Obama.
Amongst my fellow “hispanic” parishioners with whom I have boldly implored “no more voting for Democrats” here in SoCal, I am pleased to report that support for OMarxo is dwindling.
I need that image of Obama superimposed on toast. He is toast. These numbers at this point in an election year for an incumbent are not good at all. 20% of your own party think the country has been changed for the worse under your leadership. Put a fork in him.
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