Here are the Rasmussen numbers for two separate dates in the Obama Administration, February 5 (today) and February 24 of 2009, three years ago.
As far as “approval” numbers are concerned, there is a world of difference, some of which might have an effect in the coming election cycle. The contrast is more than interesting.
February of 2009. Obama was inaugurated on January 20th of 2009. Less than a month later, he had a signed stimulus more than ¾ of a billion dollars to show for his first three and half weeks. Because of documents recently released, we now know that Obama had been working on his economic plan for more than two years before his inauguration. Larry Summers, Timothy Geithner and Elizabeth Warren were part of this economic team - all socialists, all Keynesian economists. Seven days after the Stimulus was signed into law (Feb 17th, 2009), Rasmussen recorded the daily numbers for the 24th. Seven days after the Stimulus signing, energy was near an all time Obama high and his approval rating was a stunning 60% . Understand that as good as these numbers were, they were down, slightly, from Inauguration day. Let’s remember that Obama won the election by 7% of the popular vote with the Inauguration Day approval numbers., a critical consideration.
I believe Obama needs similar numbers to win with a 7% margin.
Date | High Enthusiasm Strongly Approve | Low Enthusiasm Strongly Disapprove | Total Approve | Total Disapprove | |
2/05/2012 | 26% | 39% | 48% | 50% | |
2/24/2009 | 39% ______________ | 25% | 60% ________ | 39% |
Inauguration Day ..44% High Energy ……………......………. 65%
February 5, 2012 (today): you see the numbers for the 5th, above. The enthusiasm level has fallen by 18% and the over-all approval numbers are down 17 points compared to just before the inauguration. Understand that the “inauguration day” numbers are the numbers that won Obama his first term.
Here is my take on the coming election, based upon this comparison. If Obama brings his approval numbers to 52% or higher, and they will improve, he cannot win re-election unless and until the enthusiasm numbers are at 38 to 44 percent.
Based upon what we see, we know that Obama believes he can win re-election by dividing the country (class envy) and running against the conservative “half” of the nation. He believes that he can rekindle the high levels of energy that fueled the “get out the vote” orchestrated by ACORN (by different names, this bunch of socialist cheats are still around) and the SEIU and his far Left base loves “class envy.”
Why do you suppose that he Obama has decided to ignore the “white working class,” infuriated the Catholic leadership, and refused to accept subpoenas from those who have a right to ask? Because he thinks he can excite his base and makeup for the loss of votes in that increased enthusiasm.
As things stand, at this moment, he is the underdog. But, America loves “the underdog.” What works against Obama is the fact that America, also, hates the “mean dog.”