CNN poll: Obama's message gets through the noise

babylonsister

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Sat Jun-19-10 01:34 PM
Original message

CNN poll: Obama's message gets through the noise

Edited on Sat Jun-19-10 01:35 PM by babylonsister

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/6/18/877467/-CNN-poll:-Obamas-message-gets-through-the-noise

CNN poll: Obama's message gets through the noise
by DemFromCT

Sat Jun 19, 2010 at 09:18:03 AM PDT

What the public thinks:

Nine in ten Americans say that the situation in the Gulf of Mexico is still out of control, but roughly half say that it is not getting any worse, according to a new national poll.

But will the oil spill get any better?

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday indicates that about half the public says that the Gulf will eventually recover, with half saying that will never happen.

Obama's got a 41/59 approve/disapprove on his handling of the spill. That's down from 46/51 three weeks ago, and a tad better than BP's current 13/87 (and just who are the approving 13%?)

The surprising and underreported part of the poll:

68 percent of respondents want more regulation of the oil industry;

72 percent favor "Barack Obama's proposals to develop alternative sources of energy and reduce the amount of oil and other fossil fuels that are produced and used in this country";

69 percent believe such plans will increase jobs.

But... but... Obama's speech on the topic was terrible. The pundits said so. So how could his proposals resonate? Hey, maybe the pundits are ** gasp ** wrong.

Here's an important part of the poll:

According to the poll, opposition to increased offshore drilling has grown 10 points since May and is now twice as high as it was in 2008. Fifty-eight percent of those questioned support a six-month moratorium on new drilling in the Gulf and other offshore sites; 68 percent favor increased regulation of the oil industry in this country.

"There is a gender and generation gap on offshore oil drilling - women and younger Americans are less likely to support drilling offshore and more likely to support a moratorium," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

snip//

And see this from CJR:

John Harwood�s Monday contributions to The New York Times�s "Caucus" blog provide a reliably level-headed take on the political news of the moment, often informed by political science. Today�s contribution�about how, for all the media sturm und drang about Barack Obama�s failure to sufficiently emote about the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, his public ratings have remained steady�is a good example...

In the case of the oil spill, it�s not so much ideological disagreement as the press�s institutional need for novelty, drama, and volatility that drive the assumption that of course Obama is courting political risk by not playing the role the media expects. But the public does not face the some incentives�and, as Harwood notes, it�s apparently come to its own conclusions.

Remember, the pundits opining on how Obama's speech sucked are the same people that explained to us how McCain won the debates.