honest, i tried to find some bad news….

CNN: President Barack Obama’s approval rating is on the rise …. In a CNN/ORC International Poll out Tuesday 49% of Americans approve of the job Obama’s doing in the White House, up five points from last month, with 48% saying they disapprove, down six points from mid-November …. The 49% approval rating is the president’s highest since May, when his number hit 54% thanks to a bounce following the killing of Osama bin Laden.

More here

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Greg Sargent: Yesterday the Washington Post released some new poll data …. it showed President Obama holds a 15 point advantage over Republicans on helping the middle class, and a 17 point edge among independents on the traditional GOP signature issue of taxes.

It would be premature to place too much stock in one poll. But CNN has just released a new survey with equally striking findings – ones that suggest that Obama’s new populist offensive, including the pressure on Republicans over the payroll tax cut, is working, and winning back middle class voters in big numbers.

More here

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Chris Cillizza: President Obama’s resurgence in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll is built in no small part on a growing sentiment in the electorate that he is fighting for the middle class. Asked who they trust more to protect the middle class, 50 percent of respondents chose Obama while just 35 percent named “Republicans in Congress”.

That’s the widest margin the President has enjoyed in Post-ABC polling on that question since December 2010 and is a vast improvement from an early November survey in which Obama had just a four-point edge over Republicans on the “protecting the middle class” question.

Dig deeper into the numbers and it’s clear that the President’s middle class messaging is resounding in the critical center of the electorate. Among independents, 49 percent trust Obama more to look out for the middle class while 32 percent side with congressional Republicans. Self described moderates opt for Obama by a wide 58 percent to 26 percent margin.

More here

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CNN: President Barack Obama’s numbers are on the rise in two important indicators of his reelection chances …. A CNN/ORC International Poll out Tuesday indicates the president’s margins have increased against five possible Republican presidential challengers in hypothetical general election matchups….

…..  Obama leads Mitt Romney 52%-45% …. Romney held a 51%-47% margin over the president in last month’s survey….

…… Newt Gingrich doesn’t fare as well against the president with Obama up by 16 points, 56% to 40%. Last month Obama led Gingrich 53%-45%.

More here

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The Jewish Daily Forward: Top-level Jewish fundraisers from President Obama’s 2008 campaign are sticking with the president in 2012.

Despite reports that President Obama faces a loss of Jewish funders due to his Middle East policy, analysis of a list of elite bundlers from his 2008 race shows no defections among the president’s top Jewish supporters in 2012.

In 2008, Obama’s elite “bundlers” – fund raisers who collected more than $500,000 each for the president’s campaign – included many prominent Jews …  all of them have returned on the 2012 campaign’s list of volunteer bundlers, or are confirmed to be fundraising for the campaign. And a handful of new prominent Jewish bundlers has joined the elite group this year for the first time.

More here

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Business Insider

Business Insider

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Washington Post: Unemployment rates fell in 43 states in November, the most number of states to report such declines in eight years.

The falling state rates reflect the brightening jobs picture nationally. The U.S. unemployment rate fell sharply in November to 8.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009. The economy has generated 100,000 or more jobs five months in a row – the first time that’s happened since 2006 …. The drop in unemployment rates in 43 states marked the most number of states to show declines since October 2003.

More here

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WSJ: The Obama administration has approved a pair of renewable energy projects being developed on public lands in Arizona and California.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday his department has approved a 300-megawatt solar farm southwest of Phoenix and a 186-megawatt wind farm east of San Diego.

….. The latest projects are the 24th and 25th renewable energy projects on public lands approved in the past two years….

More here

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White House: House Republicans are refusing to extend the payroll tax cut, which expires on December 31. If it does, taxes will go up for 160 million working Americans. Nearly everyone – from President Obama to Congressional Democrats to Republicans in the Senate – is committed to making sure that doesn’t happen, but a faction in the House is dragging their feet….

…. What does $40 mean to you? What will you and your family have to cut or go without if Congress refuses to pass the payroll tax cut? Here are some of the stories we’ve collected so far. Tell us your own story here, or tweet @WhiteHouse with the hashtag #40dollars, to help us add to the list.

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44 at 49 (chat away)

Washington Post

Gallup

ooops, fox will have to sack their pollsters

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as president?

Hmm, up nine from December – despite all the crap being thrown at him!

😆

Come on Fox, you need to try harder with your promotion of the Chump.

(The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone  interviews with 914 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from April 3 to April 5.)

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Considering their fondness for reversing poll results, I’m half expecting them to report:

“67% OF AMERICANS SAY OBAMA IS AN ALIEN!!”

44 at 49

MSNBC: President Obama’s approval rating in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll stands at 49 percent, up one point from the last survey … “With the exception of that January bump-up [after the Tucson shootings], it’s the best job rating he’s received since May 2010,” said Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart.

More here

Libya, rising gas prices, the threat of a Government shutdown, etc ….. and still his approval rises to 49. Doomed I say!

‘when one bad poll for obama = big news’

MediaMatters: A new poll from Quinnipiac University is making headlines this week. Why? Because it shows Obama’s approval rating at a low point of 42 percent. And when a single poll (and possibly outlier) shows Obama’s approval rating going down, that’s news!

News organizations all agree: The Quinnipiac poll is a big deal. But for context, here’s a look at all the Obama approval rating polling results currently listed at PollingReport.com, for the month of March:

CBS: 49%
CNN: 51%
Fox: 49:%
CNN: 50%
ABC/Washington Post: 51%
Allstate/National Journal: 49%
Bloomberg: 51%
Ipsos/Reuters: 49%

And here’s a very recent result, not listed by PollingReport.com:

Gallup: 49% (see today’s poll)

For the month of March, Obama’s approval rating has been quite consistent (average: 50%), just as it’s been for nearly the last 18 months. But when the Quinnipiac poll came out and broke with that trend, and broke with the trend in a negative direction, suddenly that single poll was big news.

Thank you for the link majii 😉

you mightn’t have heard….

Remember when the Gallup poll for March 6-8 showed the President’s approval rating had dropped to 45% and his disapproval rating had risen to 48%? Jeez, it got nearly as much media coverage as Charlie Sheen. The latest Gallup poll? Not so much:

March 9-11 – Approve: 49 Disapprove: 43

Yep, in the space of a few days the President’s approval has risen by four points and his disapproval has dropped five – despite growing concerns about rising gas prices due to unrest in the Middle East. Jeez, it’d be nice if the media told us.

Wonder if Wisconsin is a factor in the latest poll? If it is, thanks Gov Walker 😉

Latest Gallup poll here

that washington post/abc poll….

A few points from today’s Washington Post/ABC poll that are likely to get lost in all the noise:

* President Obama’s approval rating is 49% (compared to the much publicized 42% in the McClatchy-Marist Poll yesterday)

* “The midterm elections were widely seen as a rebuke to President Obama. Still, the public now trusts Obama more than congressional Republicans to deal with the country’s main problems in the coming years” (43 to 38 per cent)

* “The president’s advantage is a striking contrast to the public’s mood at this time in 1994 and 2006: George W. Bush trailed the Democrats by 26 points on this measure after they took the House in 2006, and Bill Clinton trailed the Republicans by 15 points in trust to handle the country’s main problems after the GOP won the House in 1994.”

* “Most continue to say the Republicans in Congress are not doing enough to compromise with Obama on important issues.”

* “…Obama maintains double-digit leads over the GOP in two big areas: helping the middle class and health-care reform.”

* “Americans believe the president is more genuine in wanting to reduce the deficit. More than two in three said Obama is sincere in his commitment to deficit reduction, while only a bare majority say the same for congressional Republicans.”

* “…Obama’s tax compromise with Republicans on Capitol Hill sparked vocal protests from liberal elected officials and leaders of some progressive groups. But the poll shows no notable erosion in his support among liberal Democrats in the population at large. His approval rating among liberal Democrats stands at a lofty 87 percent, almost identical to where it was in an early October poll and down marginally from a survey later that month.”

a (very) good week’s work

Pollster John Zogby, September 24:

“For the Democrats, it’s looking again like summer’s end may bring a breath of fresh air. Poll numbers are moving up for Obama and the Democrats. Our latest Congressional generic found the Dems up by 1 percent, and other pollsters are also showing improvements for Obama’s party. Our latest presidential job approval of 49 percent is Obama’s highest since February. Taking the offensive against the Republicans is paying off, especially with the Democratic base. We’ll see how the Democrats play their advantage on legislation that extends middle class tax cuts and ends the unpopular cuts on income over $250,000. The Senate vote on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” failed to get the 60 votes needed to move forward, but Democrats may get credit from gay rights supporters for having tried. There are five weeks ahead before the midterm elections, and this past week was a good one for Obama and the Democrats.”

49 and feeling fine

President Barack Obama arrives to board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on August 4, 2010 to leave for Chicago, Illinois.

for he’s a jolly good fellow