The White House is shifting into semi-panic mode after this new Quinnipiac University poll about President Obama’s diminishing approval rating in Ohio:
President Barack Obama gets a lackluster 49 – 44 percent approval rating in Ohio, considered by many to be the most important swing state in a presidential election, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This is President Obama’s lowest approval rating in any national or statewide Quinnipiac University poll since he was inaugurated and is down from 62 – 31 percent in a May 6 survey.
By a small 48 – 46 percent margin, voters disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. This is down from a 57 – 36 percent approval May 6. A total of 66 percent of Ohio voters are “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the way things are going in the state, while 33 percent are “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied,” numbers that haven’t changed since Obama was elected.
This is significant on two points: 1) The double-digit drop has got to be worrisome to the W.H. and Democrats; 2) Ohio in one of those bellwether states in U.S. politics.
And that’s why V.P. Joe Biden is going there for a visit and to drum up support for the administration. Ohio also just happens to be the home state of House Minority Leader John Boehner (R), and he does not like Biden’s talk of a second stimulus one bit:
“I found it … interesting over the last couple of days to hear Vice President Biden and the president mention the fact that they didn’t realize how difficult an economic circumstance we were in,” Boehner said. “Now this is the greatest fabrication I have seen since I’ve been in Congress.”
“I’ve sat in meetings in the White House with the vice president and the president. There’s not one person that sat in those rooms that didn’t understand how serious our economic crisis was,” Boehner said.
Boehner also took a shot at the idea of a second stimulus – something Biden said he was open to last week.
“All of this talk of a second stimulus bill, I think, is an admission on the part of the administration that their stimulus plan is not working,” Boehner said.
To counter Rep. Boehner’s statements, the Democratic National Committee lets loose an online ad, saying:
“Fact is, John Boehner supported the Bush economic policies of the past eight years that brought our economy to its knees,” the ad says. “Now John Boehner is using baseless attacks to mislead the public about the success of the Recovery Act.”
Again, the timeless unoriginal excuse of “blame Bush”… Let’s review: Bush “inherited” but did not whine about Clinton’s recession. In fact, thanks to Bush tax cuts, he managed to keep the economy afloat for most of his two terms. Then we have President Obama, who constantly complains about “inheriting” the recession from his predecessor and asks Americans to excuse him for doing a poor job fixing the economy.
Barack Obama, obviously, fails to realize that dealing with the economy, for better or for worse, comes with the job as being the U.S. President. You wanted the job, you got the job, now stop whining.
