Monday, October 17, 2011

Will Obama Benefit from OWS?

When the president of the United States does something, even if it is stupid, his action benefits from the aura of the office.  So when the president launches into a full-throttle Occupy Wall Street class warfare campaign, even the most hardened opponent has to wonder: Does he know something I don't know?

After all, there is a reason why politicians are very careful about choosing their enemies.  When you get attacked, it wakes you up.  It makes you angry.  It prods you into getting an opposition organized.  No politician wants that.  He wants, if possible, to put the opposition to sleep.

So I've been watching the daily Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll, looking for changes that might reflect reactions to the president's class-warfare campaign.  Frankly, I don't see any results.  Not yet.

If you look at the Total Approve number, it started declining during the Debt Ceiling debate, and has flatlined at 43-45 percent ever since.

If you look at the Strongly Approve number, it has been in steady decline since the start of 2011, and seems to have flattened out at 21-22 percent since the beginning of September.  So is this the effect of the class warfare campaign, that it has stopped the erosion in the president's base support?  Big Deal!

If you look at the Strongly Disapprove number, it had declined from about 43 percent at the end of 2010 to about 36 percent by May 2011.  But during the Debt Ceiling debate the Strongly Disapprove numbers strongly rallied back to 43 percent.   Since the beginning of August the number has flatlined at 42-43 percent.

I don't know what the Obamis see in their polls.  But I'd say that whatever it is they are doing, it isn't working.

Looks like the old Clinton campaign slogan still applies.  It's the economy, stupid.

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