AP - Gfk Poll: Obama's Approval Hits 60 Per Cent.

[Stuart G]

Source: Yahoo News, AP

By LIZ SIDOTI and JENNIFER AGIESTA, Associated Press – 10 min ago

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's approval rating has hit its highest point in two years — 60 percent — and more than half of Americans now say he deserves to be re-elected, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll taken after U.S. forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

In worrisome signs for Republicans, the president's standing improved not just on foreign policy but also on the economy, and independent Americans — a key voting bloc in the November 2012 presidential election — caused the overall uptick in support by sliding back to Obama after fleeing for much of the past two years.

Comfortable majorities of the public now call Obama a strong leader who will keep America safe. Nearly three-fourths — 73 percent — also now say they are confident that Obama can effectively handle terrorist threats. And he improved his standing on Afghanistan, Iraq and the United States' relationships with other countries.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110511/ap_on_re_us/us_ap_poll_obama_boost

[liberal N proud]

1. This should peg the doomsday clock

The right wing must have their panties in a wad over this.

[icnorth]

2. After reading these results

they probably deposited a wad in their panties.

[Stuart G]

3. In my opinion, Obama's stature as President will rise, and

those who oppose him will fall.
He did what he said he would do, somewhat different than the previous person, and people appreciate it. As Thom Hartmann said, "I am so glad that he is our President and not George Bush."
Now most of the country feels this too.

[trud]

14. Let's not forget

he's done zippo for the environment, and let the Republicans take grey wolves off the endangered species list, the first time ever Congress has trashed the ES list. We had a chance to at least retard global warming, but we're over the cliff now.

[groundloop]

4. Yes, and let's hope he can bring back the House AND Senate on his coattails

It's imperative to win back the House and to make gains in the Senate if this country is to make any more strides in the right direction.

The publicans heads must be exploding at this news, especially after all they've done to obstruct President Obama.

[Volaris]

24. I agree with what you said, but I would like to add, (if I may)..

the ABSOLUTE need on OUR part for him to convince that same Democratically controlled Congress that they MUST be proactive in getting things done. If the Senate is to remain in the hands of the Dems., then the first thing I would like to see done is the re-working of the filibuster to something resembling sanity and reason, or we will just get a replay of last time. Also, the need of a Dem. controlled House to really start in on the idea of Progressive regulation of industry (ALL Industry) and the closing of the Pandora's Box that is Corp. person-hood.

I just watched Gasland. I'm going to be pissed for a good long while, I think.

[JTFrog]

5. K&R!

[caseymoz]

6. Be interesting to see what he does now that he has solid support.

Is he going to stay in the middle?

More importantly, is he going to stem the human rights abuses and stopped the wars this country started because of 9/11? Is he going to give us the more transparent government that he promised?

Though it is good to have a President more competent and apparently less mendacious than Dubya, I won't vote for him unless he does those. I'm sorry, I have minimal standards.

[emulatorloo]

10. Seriously, could you explain your POV? I would appreciate it, I am trying to understand

I'm not being judgmental and I am not going to "attack" you.

I am just trying to understand "I won't vote for him unless he does those. I'm sorry, I have minimal standards."

(First I will say I think the death of OBL is the perfect excuse to come home from Afghanistan, and I've seem some leaks in the press that the admin is going to argue that. Also I believe Hilary called out China on human rights abuses yesterday)

So back to "I won't vote for him unless he does those. I'm sorry, I have minimal standards."

- the reality is that a third party vote will benefit the Republican candidate for president

- some are going to read your post and say YEAH I AM GOING TO SIT HOME. Low Democratic voter turnout will benefit Republican House and Senate candidates.

What I am trying to understand is why your feel that voting third party is constructive.

Thanks in advance

[No Elephants]

27. I saw nothing in Reply 6 about either staying home or voting 3rd Party.

[caseymoz]

31. It's about human rights abuses.

. . . and protecting the Constitution, which he is sworn to do. That's boilerplate.

I hope he uses his new found popularity to shift from his policies on rights, secrecy, and presidential powers.

If he did that, he'd have my enthusiastic vote, and not just because his warm body keeps a Republican out of office. I hope he's clinging to those policies because they were like a life preserver and not his precious child. We'll see now that he doesn't need a life preserver.

I gave hundreds of dollars that I couldn't afford to Obama in 2008. He won't get anymore of my money without those changes. I definitely won't be campaigning for him.

I've said before, without Constitutional changes, 3rd parties are a waste. We have a Constitution written with the idea of discouraging "factions," that is, parties. The founders wanted a one-party state. That's how they wrote the Constitution. They almost succeeded . . .

Other nations base their political systems on there being political parties. Our Constitution does not even acknowledge their existence.

[greenman3610]

7. I love the smell of right wing panic in the morning

[Jefferson23]

8. bin Laden was referred to as the Jack Pot, wasn't he? Eat dirt Republicans. n/t

[Bragi]

9. Voters Gone Wild for executions abroad!

No big surprise, but sad nonetheless to those of us who continue to oppose the new powers of any President to order the execution foreigners or citizens without any oversight.

[emulatorloo]

11. "the president's standing improved not just on foreign policy but also on the economy"

[forty6]

12. Yes, I agree, kind of sad that this was the way Obama got greater

approval numbers. Not for all the GOOD things he has done while in office, (I say "good not perfect"), and the one thing he does that is morally questionable if not completely lawless and unacceptable under international law bumps his ratings way up.

What kind of a nation are we now?

[trud]

15. forty6

He had a group in place to handle BL if he was captured alive. So it was not an execution. Are you upset because we violated the territory of a sovereign nation that is hand and glove with al Qaeda? I'm not. We're idiots for giving that nation money.

[forty6]

29. trud: The fact is that we just DON'T KNOW the facts

surrounding the death of OBL. I'm not sorry he's dead, but I'm sorry we will never know the facts, and that we have rejected our own system of justice and praise our President for doing so.

If OBL had died in a firefight, we could accept the unfortunate consequence. But we know that did NOT happen now, (or at least we are told so) and we don't really know why he is now dead, and under what circumstance and orders he was killed.

No, I have no sympathy for Pakistan' "sovereignty", and feel no shame for the invasion to capture OBL.
That part of the world doesn't think nor act like we "westerners" do, and we know this very well, India has known this for over 100 years. To trust that government would be folly, for sure. I see nothing wrong with going into Pakistan to get OBL.

The problem I have is in never knowing the full truth of the killing, and in knowing so many Americans simply don't even care HOW he was killed.

[Jefferson23]

13. Do you believe that is why his numbers are up, and not because bin Laden

is dead? I question whether Americans are pleased about executions, but that may be
just me.

I accepted the initial reports, bin Laden resisted/armed, etc. So much has changed since then, I am deeply concerned
about how and why it went the way it did and the consequences of those decisions are not even well absorbed yet, imo.

For me, bin Laden was the only legitimate focus after 9/11, all the rest that followed was insane. I accept my
failings that I enjoy watching Republicans twist themselves into knots to try and take credit for killing a man
their leader declared irrelevant 6 fucking months after 9/11.

His death is done, I am not unhappy about that, I also share the deeper concern as to why and how, we all should.

[Bragi]

16. A thoughtful post. Thanks. /nt

[sabrina 1]

26. Good post.

We are all happy to see Republicans have their 'soft on terror' meme thrown in their faces, I was subjected personally to so many attacks from the right on that issue alone.

However, when I argued with rightwingers it was always to slam them for their false idea of what contituted 'tough'. Tough does not mean throwing away our Constitution, which in case anyone has forgotten, is what Bush was doing. Tough means standing up for what is right, for what is Constitutional.

But sadly is seems the US has a long way to go before they get over their believe that belief that ordering killings is what constitutes tough. We truly are a regressive society.

[Chan790]

23. Um, that's not a new power.

Really, it is not. We may have spent most of the Cold War assassinating foreigners under sealed executive order (or non-official scrip. i.e. a simple folded note passed across President's desk that could never be actionably tied back to us and would never exist in the official record.) who deserved it a lot less than OBL. To that end, we know of dozens of approved assassination attempts against Fidel Castro approved by JFK alone.

It's not a power that is used frequently or often in a high-profile manner, but up to 1974 there was no limitation on the power to order proscription by a US President except capability to assassinate and the legal and diplomatic consequences of the murder. Gerald Ford by executive order barred assassination of foreign heads-of-state and high-level officials like cabinet ministers. Reagan sought on more than one occasion to roll-back Ford's order.

The things you learn studying the Cold War and military history as a political scientist. Lincoln contemplated the assassination of Davis and there is a loony fringe of historical conspiracy theorists that believe that Davis did order Booth's assassination of Lincoln though the Confederacy had already surrendered.

[Bragi]

25. Good info, thanks...

What's "new" is the President being able to kill American citizens without oversight, yes?

Isn't that a newly established executive power?

[Chan790]

28. Edit: I got the year wrong.

1976, not 1974.

[killbotfactory]

36. Executions involve killing people in your custody

Our military is not restricted from killing combatants who don't surrender.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

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[Tarheel_Dem]

20. This news really put you in a snit, huh? Your "populist schtick" is duly noted.

:eyes:

[emulatorloo]

22. Go tell the people of Wisconsin about how bad "Republican Lite" is.

In my state we have a wingnut governor and a wingnut House of Representatives.

They put out the most egregious legislation possible. Ok to use deadly force to protect a zygote. They want a constitutional convention to ban gay marriage. On and On they go with this nonsense.

Happily we have a Democratically controlled Senate and the shoot down ever piece of ridiculous wingnut crap that comes their way. You would no doubt characterize them as "Republican Lite" And you would be seriously mistaken.

[Freddie Stubbs]

18. Good luck to anyone who is thinking about running in the Primary against him

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[emulatorloo]

21. Your use of "sheeple" is duly noted. P.S. Your Hoover analogy doesn't make any sense.

It is the kind of hyperbole I more associate with those nuts on the other side of the political spectrum.

[closeupready]

30. The election was over after he made his announcement that Friday.

:D Pukes should gracefully concede, in advance. :rofl:

[bemildred]

32. Yah.

If you are going to play this stupid game, at least admit it when you get beat.

[FiveGoodMen]

33. I'll bet it'll reach 100% if he nukes someone.

[DCBob]

34. Just anyone??

[marasinghe]

35. anyone non-caucasian; preferably islamic; sans nukes; unable to defend themselves;

not backed by Russia or China; and, no known natural resources which could be contaminated by radioactive fallout thus preventing plunder.

that should provide enough clout with the majority of Americans, to have Congress rescind term limits & be re-elected to the presidency for the rest of his natural life.

[Amonester]

40. Newsflash: He will not nuke anyone.

And you lose your bet because even if he did, it would never reach 100%.

The only possibility for such a 100% mark would be if he sent everybody over 18 a million bucks in the mail, and even then, I'm not 100% sure. :rofl:

[Hugh Everett]

37. Sic transit gloria mundi.

Analysis of the AP poll reveals a sampling that was 2:1 Democrat to Republican. By contrast, Gallup has Obama hovering around 50% in the wake of the Bin Laden Bounce. And polls that sample people who really vote, like Rasmussen, still have Obama below 50%.

I’m reminded that Bush’s approval rating rose to 63% after Saddam was caught hiding in the rat hole. A month later, he had already fallen 10 points. These bumps don’t last long.

Note that Obama waited as long as possible to move on the OBL compound. He would have waited all the way until Oct 2012 if he could have.

[underpants]

38. Bush's numbers dropped repeatedly only bouyed by media glorification of his failures

http://pollkatz.homestead.com/

If it looks like a Christmas tree laying on its side it should

Bush dropped like a rock other than the greatest failure of national security of any leader ever (9/11) and the greatest failure of decision making ever (Iraq War). The media made him look like he was floating as he dragged our country underwater.

[marasinghe]

39. homines quod volunt credunt.

sure. AP - the dream machine of the socialist international - has always had a hard-on for Obama's presidency.

[Hugh Everett]

42. "Look darlin'! That's Latin."

"It appears Johnny Ringo is an educated man. Now I know I hate him!"
-Dr John Henry Holliday

Journolist’s members included dozens of straight-news reporters from major news organizations, including Time, Newsweek, The Associated Press, Reuters, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Politico, Bloomberg, Huffington Post, PBS and one NPR affiliate.

[marasinghe]

44. dude, it's a week from judgment day. get thy retro to the wiki century.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Latin_proverbs

:hi:

[Hugh Everett]

45. If you’re going to duel in a classical language…

you shouldn’t be troubled by 19th century quotes.

[TomCADem]

41. If This Was Negative Poll, Each News Sight Would Have It On The Front Page...

...and it would be the lead story for the cable news show. But, it does not fit the narrative, so watch it get ignored.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

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[Veronica.Franco]

46. Has anyone heard from The Donald lately? ...

:rofl:

[SomeGuyInEagan]

47. Susan Demarest in Snellville, Ga., is an idiot.

From the article:

"I'm very concerned' about the country, says Susan Demarest in Snellville, Ga., 56, who didn't support the Democrat last time and won't this time. "I'm in my 50s and I worry that I'm not going to be able to retire at a reasonable age and enjoy the end of my life because of Medicare and Social Security and the debt of the country." Still, she says Obama doesn't carry all of the blame."

Susan is a fucking moron. Lots of problems with the Dems, but if you "worry that I'm not going to be able to retire at a reasonable age and enjoy the end of my life because of Medicare and Social Security and the debt of the country" and are voting Republican, you are nothing less than a fucking moron.

[Veronica.Franco]

49. She's a menopausal mean girl ...

Many of my guy friends won't date women this age because they end up feeling like they are being dragged thru menopause several times ... Wanna Bet? ... Susan didn't plan for her retirement THIRTY years ago ... she has a house full of teenagers that she is raising, mostly alone, from several marriages and now she's broke ... huge surprise ... all her divorces and all those good-time Charlies didn't pay retirement dividends? ... it can't be HER fault soooo it must be OBAMA'S fault ... it's her ex-husband's fault ... it's her ex-mother-in-law's fault ... she's another miserable creature looking for anyone else to blame for her lot in life ... have another box of donuts, Sugar ... ;-)

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

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[BlueIris]

50. Enjoy it while it lasts, Sir.

I predict that by the end of this thing, you will be lucky to get anyone to admit they even thought about voting for you again.

[FrenchieCat]

51. You must be awfully pissed, hey?

Sorry to inconvenience your agenda for a short while. :thumbsup: