Gas prices sink Obama’s ratings on economy, bring parity to race for White House

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Washington Post:

Disapproval of President Obama’s handling of the economy is heading higher — alongside gasoline prices — as a record number of Americans now give the president “strongly” negative reviews on the 2012 presidential campaign’s most important issue, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Increasingly pessimistic views of Obama’s performance on the economy — and on the federal budget deficit — come despite a steadily brightening employment picture and other signs of economic improvement, and they highlight the political sensitivity of rising gas prices.

The potential political con­sequences are clear, with the ­rising public disapproval reversing some of the gains the president had made in hypothetical general-election matchups against possible Republican rivals for the White House. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) now both run about evenly with Obama. The findings come just five weeks after Obama appeared to be getting a boost from the improving economy.

Gas prices are a main culprit: Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they disapprove of the way the president is handling the situation at the pump, where rising prices have already hit hard. Just 26 percent approve of his work on the issue, his lowest rating in the poll. Most Americans say higher prices are already taking a toll on family finances, and nearly half say they think that prices will continue to rise, and stay high.

________

 

Well, this just proves that people who use gas are racist...

[Rokke]

So if you were going to estimate what percentage of this country consider themselves democrat, republican or independent, what percentages would you come up with?

As an indicator of how organizations like the Washington Post create news stories, take a look at the party demographics they used in their last three polls...

 

901. Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as (a Democrat), (a Republican), an independent or what?

Democrat Republican Independent Other (vol.) No opinion

3/10/12 31 27 36 3 3

2/12/12 34 23 37 5 1

1/15/12 32 25 36 5 2

 

Their poll in February had 11% more democrats than republicans polled. Less then a month later the spread is 4%.

Now look at that title of their story. What REALLY changed Obama's numbers? Could it possibly be a 7% shift the

demographics of those they polled? Right now, these stories are meaningless with respect to the 2012 election.

But just watch the demographics as we get closer to the election. Suddenly, Obama's popularity will be "surging".

Yeah. Sure. Remember to look for the demographic breakdown of those polled. Probably the only surge will

be in the growth of the spread between the number of democrats polled versus republicans.