These poll figures continue to disappoint me.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/141725/Blacks-Whites-Continue-Differ-Sharply-Obama.aspx
I read the news today oh boy! Page 196
Quote: DaButt @ August 4 2010, 2:33 PM BSTflashed gang signs
What's that?
Quote: DaButt @ August 4 2010, 7:06 PM BSTThese poll figures continue to disappoint me.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/141725/Blacks-Whites-Continue-Differ-Sharply-Obama.aspx
But not surprise you, I hope?
What does that mean?
How people of different races think he's doing at his job?
What were the results for Bush?
The very concept of approval ratings are a sad indictment on the American political system and just underlines the fact that you get politicians afraid to take unpopular yet fundamentally right decisions. I can't wait for Palin to take over in 2012 or 2016 so we can have a Mama Grizzly in charge. It'll be a hoot.
Quote: Aaron @ August 4 2010, 10:18 PM BSTWhat's that?
It means he's a gang member and was making gang gestures with his hands as a threat and identification symbol.
Quote: Aaron @ August 4 2010, 10:18 PM BSTBut not surprise you, I hope?
Not at all.
Quote: zooo @ August 4 2010, 10:46 PM BSTWhat does that mean?
How people of different races think he's doing at his job?
What were the results for Bush?
Yes, that's what it means. In a nutshell, African-Americans seem to be giving Obama a pass because he's black, while the rest of the nation is not at all pleased with the job he's doing. So much for all that post-racial claptrap that was heralded after the election.
Bush's approval rating was in the tank among all races at the end. Obama is approaching that level less than 2 years into his presidency among white and Hispanic voters. I'm pretty sure no president in history has maintained a 90% approval rating for as long as Obama has with African-Americans.
Quote: chipolata @ August 4 2010, 10:50 PM BSTThe very concept of approval ratings are a sad indictment on the American political system and just underlines the fact that you get politicians afraid to take unpopular yet fundamentally right decisions.
As if British politicians pay no attention to what the man on the street thinks ...
Quote: zooo @ August 4 2010, 10:46 PM BSTWhat were the results for Bush?
Clinton also had "89% or 90% average approval in the last three years of his presidency" amongst the blacks, presumably also because Clinton was black.
Quote: DaButt @ August 4 2010, 11:37 PM BSTAs if British politicians pay no attention to what the man on the street thinks ...
Yes, of course our politicians are obsessively worried about what the man in the street thinks, but America takes it too extremes. So much so that the approval rating seems to be a huge thing over the pond. Hell, I think you should make it so that the minute a president drops below a certain approval percentage an election is triggered. That way you could have a new president every couple of weeks.
Quote: DaButt @ August 4 2010, 11:37 PM BSTAs if British politicians pay no attention to what the man on the street thinks ...
I don't think they do for the first year or two because they're "safe". Maybe when they're closer to an election they do.
Quote: chipolata @ August 5 2010, 9:29 AM BSTYes, of course our politicians are obsessively worried about what the man in the street thinks, but America takes it too extremes. So much so that the approval rating seems to be a huge thing over the pond.
I can't understand how that's a bad thing. Politicians are the elected representatives of the people and their job is to do our bidding. Opinion polls are the best way to let the politicians know how they are doing and they ignore them at the cost of their jobs. That's the way it should be.
Because the general public are stupid ? Pretty much the world over. We're a big mass of idiots. Politicians should do what is right, not what is popular.
Although then there is the "but what IS right?" argument. Too mich for my headachey brain.
Quote: Nat Wicks @ August 5 2010, 3:12 PM BSTPoliticians should do what is right, not what is popular.
Enjoy your dictatorship.
Quote: DaButt @ August 5 2010, 3:25 PM BSTEnjoy your dictatorship.
Sometimes what is popular is not what is right, though, and tough decisions need to be made. Things that in the long run will change things for the better. At least I remember hearing that somewhere, it may be bollocks.
The people as a whole are smarter, more reasonable and better judges of what is good/bad, right/wrong than the government as a whole. It's a simple truth.
These decisions about "what is right" are not made cheaply. Decisions made with a stroke of a pen (and a lot of shady, back alley meetings and dubious alliances and promises) greatly affect the average citizen. I have no doubt that politicians would tax us 100% of our income (more if they could get away with it) in order to pay for projects that they deem "right" and "essential." The people understand that a country spending more money than it takes in is living on borrowed time. The message is being heard loud and clear round the nation and those elected officials - servants of the people - who refuse to change their ways will be looking for new jobs in the near future.
Politics is too hard for me to understand really. The thought of any person or group of people making a decision solely for the good of mindkind is flawed anyway. Human condition all all that.
When opened to a poll, a startling number of UK voters were in favour of the death penalty. But that was probably a yougov poll..