Could Obama Be Invincible? By CHARLES M. BLOW
As we stand at the verge of the historic vote on the health care bill â a signature piece of President Obamaâs agenda â it feels appropriate to take a look at how he has fared during the long slog that got us here. My quick assessment: remarkably well.
First, letâs take his job approval rating. Yes, it slid during the summer, but it stabilized around 50 percent in November and has hovered there ever since.
The empty-headed chattering class began another round of speculation and inane analysis this week when his approval rating dropped to 46 percent, its lowest yet. Silly pundits.
It was a minor tick and overplayed. If I were a Republican strategist (God forbid!), I would actually be very worried that the lower 50s/upper 40s could be Obamaâs bottom. He has weathered some of the worst months of his young presidency recently, and his numbers have barely budged.
The second thing to remember is that job approval is only one measure of how well a president connects with the electorate.
At the conclusion of his Wednesday appearance on Fox News, insolent interviewer Bret Baier interrupted the president for the umpteenth time to ask him if he thought that the health care bill would pass. Obama responded with a familiar line: âI do. Iâm confident it will pass. And the reason Iâm confident that itâs going to pass is because itâs the right thing to do.â
This idea that he wants reform âbecause itâs the right thing to doâ resonates with people. Whether they agree with him or not, they seem to genuinely believe that he has good intentions and that he is, at his base, a good man. This view of him has so penetrated the public that it often goes unspoken.
But, it shows up in the polls, albeit in indirect ways.
For instance, a Pew Research Center poll released on Thursday found that despite Obamaâs 46 percent approval rating, 61 percent of Americans still say that he is inspiring. Furthermore, 57 percent describe him as decisive, 54 percent say that he still makes them feel hopeful and 49 percent said that he still makes them feel proud. Only about a third would describe him in negative terms like arrogant and detached, or would say that he makes them feel angry.
This disparity holds true even among conservative Republicans, some of his most ardent critics. While only 12 percent approve of the job the president is doing, more than twice as many still view him as an inspiring figure.
Regardless of whether the health care bill survives, Obama has demonstrated that he can. And if the reform bill passes, and his numbers rebound, Iâm going to take to calling him Barack the Unbreakable.
As we stand at the verge of the historic vote on the health care bill â a signature piece of President Obamaâs agenda â it feels appropriate to take a look at how he has fared during the long slog that got us here. My quick assessment: remarkably well.
First, letâs take his job approval rating. Yes, it slid during the summer, but it stabilized around 50 percent in November and has hovered there ever since.
The empty-headed chattering class began another round of speculation and inane analysis this week when his approval rating dropped to 46 percent, its lowest yet. Silly pundits.
It was a minor tick and overplayed. If I were a Republican strategist (God forbid!), I would actually be very worried that the lower 50s/upper 40s could be Obamaâs bottom. He has weathered some of the worst months of his young presidency recently, and his numbers have barely budged.
The second thing to remember is that job approval is only one measure of how well a president connects with the electorate.
At the conclusion of his Wednesday appearance on Fox News, insolent interviewer Bret Baier interrupted the president for the umpteenth time to ask him if he thought that the health care bill would pass. Obama responded with a familiar line: âI do. Iâm confident it will pass. And the reason Iâm confident that itâs going to pass is because itâs the right thing to do.â
This idea that he wants reform âbecause itâs the right thing to doâ resonates with people. Whether they agree with him or not, they seem to genuinely believe that he has good intentions and that he is, at his base, a good man. This view of him has so penetrated the public that it often goes unspoken.
But, it shows up in the polls, albeit in indirect ways.
For instance, a Pew Research Center poll released on Thursday found that despite Obamaâs 46 percent approval rating, 61 percent of Americans still say that he is inspiring. Furthermore, 57 percent describe him as decisive, 54 percent say that he still makes them feel hopeful and 49 percent said that he still makes them feel proud. Only about a third would describe him in negative terms like arrogant and detached, or would say that he makes them feel angry.
This disparity holds true even among conservative Republicans, some of his most ardent critics. While only 12 percent approve of the job the president is doing, more than twice as many still view him as an inspiring figure.
Regardless of whether the health care bill survives, Obama has demonstrated that he can. And if the reform bill passes, and his numbers rebound, Iâm going to take to calling him Barack the Unbreakable.
