Allahpundit’s humorous post on Hotair reflects the viewpoint held by many of us about the President’s declining poll numbers. Time to get hammered and take a vacation, Barry.
However, will excessive gloating among my fellow conservatives about the the latest Gallup and Rasmussen polls lead us to overlook some of their more troubling negative implications? First and foremost, will any further decline in the polls create the perception of a weakened presidency and thus embolden a foreign adversary? Could the US be more vulnerable to an attack against our interests at home and abroad? Just weeks before the American Embassy in Tehran was seized in 1979 the Washington Post published a poll that gave then-President Jimmy Carter the lowest approval rating of any president in the prior three decades.
I’m not suggesting that President Obama has plummeted to a Carteresque failure – I certainly hope that history will not repeat itself. However, the actors on the world stage of 2009 are more dangerous than the Iranians 30 years ago, and I think we all expect some form of challenge at home or abroad. If and when this happens the President’s negative margins will evaporate, at least temporarily.
Assuming the trend remains, then how long will it last? There’s no indication of any reversal in the short-term – the President’s domestic agenda is increasingly unpopular and his image as a post-racial healer was severely tarnished by the Gates affair. While the latter will cease to be an influence shortly given the American public’s minimal attention span, most people are reminded about pocketbook issues every week. If Obama’s negative opinion margins last into the middle of 2010 without either an economic recovery or an external threat, then the mid-term elections could bode poorly for incumbent Democrats. Beyond that intermediate time horizon what will occur is anyone’s guess, but when you’re down, you can only go up.
I think it’s increasingly accepted by most conservatives that the President meets the birthplace requirements stated in the US Constitution.
So who stands to gain from perpetuating the story? Liberal bloggers of course. A liberal blogger has posted an on-line video featuring interviews with multiple Republican (of course!) congressman regarding Obama’s citizenship. According to Jillian Bandes : Liberal Bloggers Perpetuate Birther Conspiracy, the usual far-left “Obama-puppets” have once again have resorted to twisting the statements of those with whom they disagree:
For example, Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Was.) was put in the video for 25 seconds, giving an unclear answer to the question posed by Stark as to whether or not Obama is a citizen.
“If we’re in America and we are free, and we allow people to say – I mean, people stand on the sidewalk, and this gentleman gets to show” – Reichert gestured towards a protester on the sidewalk where the filming was taking place – “gets to stand for what he believes in in the way he decides to, because we’re in America.”
However, Stark’s unedited interview with Reichert lasted almost 5 minutes, during which he gave a definitive answer as to whether or not he believes Obama is a citizen: “I believe he is, because I haven’t seen any proof that says that he’s not.”
Once again, the far left displays their intellectual dishonesty. Only people who are unsure of their positions and can’t argue rationally need to engage in high-school trickery like this.
These groups use strategic camera shots, a largely disinterested local press looking for local color, and a general lack of counter-protesters to come across as more powerful and effectual than they actually are. Right now they can get away with getting twenty people out to a local event and calling it “grassroots activism.” Make it clear that they’re ridiculously outnumbered, and they’ll have to start spending more and more resources to accomplish their goals, such as they are.
He’s absolutely right: Groups such as ACORN and their thinly veiled fronts (like Act Now) effectively exploit local media. Speaking of which, the NY Gathering of Eagles successfully demonstrated the rules’ effectiveness in Commack, NY.
Time to deliver some well-deserved verbal smackdowns and to counter the effects of lies and agitprop.
“He’s running out of other people’s money”. Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch and Reason TV/Online Editor Nick Gillespie discuss how the President’s effectiveness and popularity is rapidly declining.