via Jacob Heilbrunn: Obama’s State of the Union Address: An Epitaph for the GOP.
Not since Ronald Reagan has an American president in his early months enjoyed as high approval ratings as does Barack Obama. A new New York Times/CBS News poll indicates that three-quarters of Americans back President Obama. It’s further confirmation not only of Obama’s extraordinary political skills, but also the precipice that the GOP hasn’t approached but
Obama inauguration speech
actively leaped over. When Obama delivers the State of the Union address Tuesday, he will wield the one of the most powerful hands history has ever bestowed upon an American president.
Sir, your words are music to my ears. And you are right, this is a State of the Union Address. We need more reporting like this, and MSNBC’s coverage of the two new polls.
MSNBC has a wrap-up of both polls out this week, one from the Washington Post and one from NYT/CBS. From MSNBC:
One month into his presidency, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found 68 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s job performance.
Sixty-four percent of respondents supported the administration’s $787 billion economic stimulus package and the same percentage backed his proposal to prevent housing foreclosures, the Washington Post reported.According to a New York Times/CBS News poll, Obama has a 63 percent job approval rating and more than 75 percent of Americans are optimistic about the next four years with him as president. [emphasis mine]
So, if this is the case, if the President is enjoying the best numbers ever of a President for the first month in office, then why don’t you hear this story on TV?
It makes one want to sigh when all you hear on the Sunday talking head shows and in the daily news cycles are warmed-over GOP talking points and right wingers spouting doubt and spin around the Republican echo chamber that they call the main stream media. If one were to leave the Beltway, though, one would find optimism and pleasure with the overall performance of our brand new President.
Why? The media are all owned by corporate Republicans. They are told to press the right-wing angle by their overlords. If one’s paycheck depended on one saying something a certain way, then in these uncertain times, one must oblige the overlords or find themselves looking for employment and joining millions of others in the same boat – not where one wants to be in today’s depression. They have no balls, or otherwise there would be many more unemployed journalists out there. From the MSNBC article:
Sixty-three percent said Republicans opposed the economic stimulus package for political reasons rather than policy concerns.
That says it all. Outside the Beltway, 63% think Republicans are opposed to the stimulus for political reasons, which they are. Inside the Beltway, their berserk proposals are taken seriously. The astounding thing about that is their political reasoning for opposition to the stimulus is so stupid it’s jaw-dropping.
They say they are opposed because the stimulus doesn’t cut the capitol gains tax (what gains?), or they wish Obama had been more open to bipartisanship (funny), and they dislike the stimulus because they say it is more important to create jobs than to pass a stimulus bill. (Laugh-out-loud ridiculous.)
Mr. Heilbrunn sums up what 63% of real America thinks:
The conservative movement is now officially dead. All that remains is for the pallbearers to carry the casket to its burial site. Obama’s speech Tuesday will provide the funeral oration.
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