Economic Woes Continue to Affect President’s Image

For the first time during his tenure as president, President Barack Obama’s approval rating has dropped below fifty percent in a national poll. The most recent survey by CNN and the Opinion Research Corp. made telephone calls to 1,041 people. Should we be alarmed? I would not.
In his first year as President, Ronald Reagan dipped below the fifty percent mark. Within five months, Bill Clinton fell under the mark. It should not concern Obama and his supporters at all. There have been extenuating circumstances for his dip in popularity.
The war dragging on Iraq and Afghanistan could play a part in why his ratings have tanked, and those who don’t follow national politics could blame Obama for problems that might easily be attributed to his predecessor, and vice versa. The recent announcement that he will be sending 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan was met with applause. However, 54 percent of those who were polled answered that by the end of 2010/start of 2011, they will begin to hold President Obama responsible accountable for successes and failures in Afghanistan, and more than likely Iraq as well.
In addition, the economy that had started to droop before he got into office has had small improvements, but unemployment numbers are not declining enough to cause the public to look at the President in a favorable light. In blue collar jobs, where unemployment has hit the hardest, those individuals tend to not have college degrees. Of those in that socioeconomic class and who were white, Obama lost 18 points. On the other hand, there were recent numbers that showed unemployment actually fell for the first time in months.
I still think that we don’t need to worry that the nation is fragmenting or that the nation is steadily turning against Obama. There have always been rough patches in every Presidency. It just needs to be overlooked right now. Even now, Obama has formulated a new jobs plan he is pitching to Congress to build the private sector back up. I support that, but let’s wait for the details.
So members of the GOP, don’t get all excited. Even your savior Reagan had his problems in the beginning, but he turned it around. Members of the Democrat party, you needn’t fret. There is much to look forward to in 2010. After all, the midterm elections are a year away.
While I have had my scattered views on this man’s term thus far, I believe the unemployment numbers growing are why he isn’t looking good to some people. If uneducated masses want to not like him because of problems with the economy that he was not the root of, then it demonstrates how easily swayed our populace is. This is a frightening thought, but something we must bear. In essence, I think we’ll be okay.