The 4%

The blogosphere was abuzz last week with the news that Obama’s polling numbers dropped 4%. They have since regained most of that, so it’s a moot point all of a week and a half later. Although I have to way of knowing for sure, I suspect that the biggest loss was from the left. The detailed demographic breakdown in the Gallup poll suggests I might be right.

A large number of Americans have a very unrealistic perception of the nature of Washington and the real amount of change that can be accomplished by a thoughtful and pragmatic President. There were a lot of people that thought Obama was some sort of messiah, the most extreme example being the exceptionally crazy Louis Farrakhan. The gay community thought that Obama would make the misguided “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the military simply go away. He could easily suspend enforcement of it, but there would likely be some blow back in the older, more conservative, upper ranks of the military. When we are fighting wars on two fronts, it’s just not a good time. That’s pragmatism.

Bill Maher, who seemed a lot more reasonable during the Bush Administration than the current administration, gave his opinion that the Democrats should ram policies down the throats of the Republicans, just as Republicans did when they controlled the White House and Congress during the first six years of the Bush Administration. My first reaction was an emotionally-based, “Yes!”, but two minutes later, my brain kicked in and I realized that substantive change comes from pragmatism and that approach just takes longer. Finding the best answer means listening to those who disagree and taking those concerns into consideration. Bill Maher should have learned that lesson from the last eight years by the previous occupant.

I think that drop in the polls reflect the realization of reality by the single-issue left and they don’t like reality.

As an interesting side note, when I was researching this post, I found the “Obama Change Index” on the Fox News website that “charts the impact of policies promised by President Obama”. Their rating has him down by 31.9%. Apparently the folks at Fox News can add mathematics and statistics to the list of things, like science, on which they have no credibility.