CNN Poll - Most People Who Disapprove Of Obama Say He Is "Too Liberal"

[TomCADem]

I know that some DUers have been gleefully citing polls regarding 2012 Presidential match-ups to argue that President Obama should be challenged from the left in the primaries for 2012. Likewise, there is this narrative being pushed on this Board that President Obama is a closet Republican.

My personal opinion is that the corporate media has been manipulating the left AND right. The corporate media repeatedly emphasizes stories of attacks from the left AND right on Obama, which is why we can have some liberals swearing the President Obama is a closet Republican while right wingers swear that he is a foreign national who occupies the same position on the idealogical spectrum as Hugo Chavez.

The only way the left gets any media coverage is if they attack the President from the left, thus they have been trained by the corporate media to attack the President Obama and the Democrats, while giving Republicans a free pass. Remember Jane Hamscher on Fox News with Grover Norquist? The ticket to coverage is to attack Democrats!

This is why on this board, even though the Republicans are the ones who voted against the latest effort to repeal DADT, most of the posts attack President Obama and Demcratic leaders. Likewise, even though all Republicans voted against Democratic efforts to let the high end Bush tax cuts expires, most of the posts give Republicans a free pass and attack President Obama for his compromise.

Conversely, even though the Republican backed tax deal blows a hole in the deficit, the corporate media makes no mention of Tea Parties who were motivated by deficit concerns (remember Glenn Beck weeping about the deficit) being upset at the deal. Republicans get a free pass from their deficit obsessed fanatics!

In short, the left has been trained by the corporate media to attack our own while the tea party right (and the left) has been trained to give Republicans a free pass.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/11/15/rel16a.pdf

(1) Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president?
(2) (IF DISAPPROVE) Do you disapprove because you think his policies and actions since he became president have been too liberal, or because you think his policies and actions have not been liberal enough?

Approve: 48%
Disapprove, too liberal: 38%
Disapprove, not liberal enough: 9%
Disapprove, unsure: 3%

Moreover, according to this poll, more people are now saying that Democrats are too liberal, then people are saying that Republicans are too conservative:

9. In general, do you think the political views of the Democratic party are too conservative, too liberal,
or about right?

Too conservative 10%
Too liberal 49%
About right 39%
No opinion 2

10. In general, do you think the political views of the Republican party are too conservative, too liberal,
or about right?

Too conservative 37%
Too liberal 17%
About right 43%
No opinion 4

[mmonk]

1. I deal in reality, not opinion.

[ZombieHorde]

4. What is reality? nt

[mmonk]

That tax cuts, deregulation, and outsourcing are not the way back to prosperity.

[Crunchy Frog]

38. Yes but they're what the people think that they want from listening to Glenn Beck.

Isn't that enough to make them good policy? :shrug:

[Egnever]

53. but eliminating them is right?

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. Most people are wrong...

...but if they came to DU, the scales would fall from their eyes, they'd finally apprehend the truth, and realize the problem all along is that he's not liberal enough.

God, what a blessing having DU is....

[quaker bill]

66. Willfully and intentionally wrong

and they vote.

[aquart]

3. Did anyone ask those idiots to define "liberal"?

[Poboy]

9. Exactly. The word has been trashed, but the actual policies

would have much larger support. We have allowed ourselves to be defined by our enemies.

[aquart]

61. When people start yammering, I ask them to define terms

Just to be sure we're talking about the same thing. Usually not.

[demwing]

37. There was a farmer, had a dog, and his freaking name was BINGO /nt

[girl gone mad]

52. They think the bank bailouts were liberal..

and the crappy health care bill was liberal.

I hear this from people on a regular basis.

Corporatism/"Centrism" = liberalism in the minds of most of these people.

[Downtown Hound]

5. Well, these are the same yokels that voted for Bush

because he looked like a good guy to have a beer with.

[MNBrewer]

10. But he doesn't drink, so he'd SUCK to have a beer with

and besides, if he did, he'd drink shitty beer

:beer:

[MNBrewer]

11. But he doesn't drink, so he'd SUCK to have a beer with

and besides, if he did, he'd drink shitty beer

:beer:

[Quixote1818]

6. This poll shows that this Tax Deal didn't help him with the middle at all

and is killing him with his base: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/12/12/obamas-support-slips-among-democrats-and-liberals-after-tax-dea/

[NightWatcher]

7. Followup question: Do you know what the fuck "liberal" means?

37%- muslin

[Cerridwen]

21. I always wonder if those people who think the President is 'muslin'

also have an opinion as to his thread count.

;)

[demwing]

41. Are there a lot of Liberal, Fundamentalist Muslim Socialists?

From Kenya?

[Cerridwen]

43. I guess it depends who you ask?

I'm not sure I understand your question.

I'm still standing over here in the cottons aisle checking thread counts. :)

[leftstreet]

8. It'd be interesting to know how respondents define 'liberal'

These dumbass polls are meaningless without first finding out how people perceive the terms

[Individualist]

14. ...and who the respondents were.

[Autumn]

22. If you are a conservative, then of course he is

too Liberal.

[Individualist]

25. Exactly.

[Quixote1818]

12. That 38% will NEVER vote Democrat. Fuck them! nt

[Edweird]

13. So? He was elected becasue he talked the liberal talk. He's in trouble now because he isn't walking

the talk. The ubiquitous DLC/new dem/republican lite mantra of "move right" will GUARANTEE losses in 2012, just like in 2010.

[Kaleva]

19. Twice as many moderates voted for Obama then did liberals.

[Edweird]

24. And they did so voting for a candidate that was significantly to the left of the president we have.

[Kaleva]

68. I thought he was center left and my opinion of him hasn't changed.

[EFerrari]

44. And then they turned around and voted for Republicans in the mid-terms. n/t

[Egnever]

54. and this poll tells you they did so because they thought he went too far left,

[EFerrari]

56. Yep. It's hilarious.

He nor his people have had a kind word for the left since before his inauguration. lol

[TomCADem]

48. Polls Say Otherwise - Loss Of House Is Due To Loss Of Independent Vote

I know that there is a strong meme on DU that President Obama has been too bipartisan despite having little Republican support for any of his proposals during his first two years. Likewise, there is the meme that President Obama was too conservative. Yet, there is this:

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1789/2010-midterm-elections-exit-poll-analysis

However, the single biggest factor in the GOP's victories was its striking gain among political independents. By 56% to 37%, more independents voted for the Republican candidate this year; four years ago, independents favored the Democrat by nearly an identical margin (57% to 39%). And just two years ago, Barack Obama won the votes of independents (by 52% to 44%) on his way to the White House.

[Edweird]

51. I see. So what happened last November?

[Pab Sungenis]

15. Is it broken down by party?

Remember that about half of those who disapprove of Obama currently are Republicans, for whom REAGAN today would be too liberal.

Obama's problem is not that Republicans think he's too liberal, it's that a good chunk of his base think he's too conservative.

[Kaleva]

20. That "good chunk" is a minority within the Party.

[Pab Sungenis]

30. A minority maybe

but a significant one. And one sick of being treated like crap.

[RaleighNCDUer]

31. That begs the qeustion - would those Obama supporters who think

he's doing ok STOP thinking that if he went more to the left, and reclaimed the disaffected dems?

Would ANY of the 'cheerleaders' for whom he can do no wrong abandon him if he actually reached out to progressives and backed the promises that got him elected in the first place?

You SAY that the democratic left is the minority, but based on the issues, not labels, can you prove it?

[MNBrewer]

74. then I guess they can do without us

[RZM]

16. But what about the anti-Obama crowd here

Are those who rec anti-Obama posts to the top of the greatest page doing so because they have been 'trained by the corporate media' to attack Democrats? Maybe it's just because he's not left enough for many here . . .

Polls are sometimes a good indication of what people think, but often not an accurate reflection of reality. How many people believe in angels? Or 9/11 conspiracies? Or that whitey created AIDS in a lab? None of those are ideas that the media pushes, yet lots of people believe them. People believe lots of stupid stuff and this is just one of a million examples.

[TomCADem]

49. Why Do You Think Corporations Would Only Manipulate The Right, And Not The Left?

I think it is naive to assume that the corporate media would not and does not actively manipulate the left as well as the right. I have done my best to document some of the more obvious examples of how the corporate media pushes narratives to erode support for President Obama on both the left and right.

It is no accident that liberals and progressives do not see the light of day on the media unless they attack President Obama. Look at Paul Krugman. He was a non-person when he was supporting the President's Health Care Reform proposals, but when he attacks the size of the stimulus, he appears on all the Sunday news shows.

It is no accident. We are being manipulated into attacking Democrats and giving Republicans a free pass.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TomCADem/63

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TomCADem/62

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TomCADem/61

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TomCADem/58

[Kaleva]

17. People are going to diss this 'cause it flies in the face of what they believe to be true.

[RaleighNCDUer]

34. A significant portion of the Republican party thinks he's a socialist.

Does that make it true?

Bullshit is bullshit, not matter how you package it.

[Number23]

62. It's hilarious watching the point of this post fly right over the heads of the folks

who most desperately need to hear it.

Of course they will ignore that a growing majority of the people in this country think that Obama is TOO LIBERAL. It is the reality, and reality is not something that people look too kindly on around here lately.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Ask most of these people what is a liberal?

Go ahead...

For that fact ask them what is a conservative?

I am willing at this point to lay odds on them defining them using wedge issues, not economic issues.

[JoePhilly]

35. Doesn't matter ....

This is what the purist left misses.

The media has spent the last 2 years taking the right wing HATE for Obama, which is at about 35% or so, and then to that they ADD the 9% or so from the left who also oppose him. They ADD those together ... and then, they claim that the MAJORITY is AGAINST OBAMA because he is TOO LIBERAL.

Unintentionally, the angry left undercuts Obama in a manner which HELPS the media paint him as TOO LIBERAL. And folks in the middle buy into it.

And thus, the results of this poll.

[L0oniX]

23. LOL @ CNN. I guess that poll is shoved up their asses.

[Haole Girl]

26. Consider the source. nt

[Zoeisright]

27. Christ, Americans are stupid.

I mean, really, really stupid.

[Imagevision]

60. Americans are stupid? - How much of the M$M doesn't the repugs own anyway...

[Ramulux]

28. It doesnt mean shit

The American people literally have no understanding of what Obama has or has not done, largely because of how fucking terrible our media is and the fact that the largest cable news outlet in the country distorts his achievements on a daily basis. A lot of this is the white house's fault too for largely letting all this disinformation go unchecked and refusing to call out people and organizations who are intent on lying about everything he does.

Obama is not too liberal, I simply say that as someone who understands what he has done and what the word liberal means. You also add into the equation the fact that the word "liberal" has been demonized big time over the past few decades and this poll makes perfect sense.

(Easily confused populace) + (pathetic media outlets) + (decades of liberal smears) + (white house's refusal to fight back) = (people in this country having no fucking clue what Obama is actually doing)

[RaleighNCDUer]

29. Want to look at that first question?

48% approve. 9% disapprove due to his not being liberal enough. That works out to 57% who do NOT think he's too liberal.

[asdjrocky]

32. So what?

That has little to do with the truth. Little to do with the fact that we are crumbling as a culture and country due to right wing policies, that he is helping to perpetuate.

Seriously, CNN? What in the hell do they have to do with the truth?

[Lucian]

33. Wait...what?

Do those idiots have any idea what "liberal" means???

[Crunchy Frog]

36. The American people have no idea what the word "liberal" even means anymore.

Political discourse in this country has been so corrupted by the corporate media that the terms of discussion don't even have any meaning anymore.

For myself, I'm not interested in Obama being more or less liberal. I just wish he had the leadership qualities and the ability and willingness to present his case to the American people so that positive and productive things could be accomplished for this country. I don't expect that to happen in this country in my lifetime though.

[Chorophyll]

39. Heh. I was just gonna say

most Americans couldn't define the word "liberal" if a dictionary, open to the right page, bit them in the ass. And herein lies America's problem.

[Desertrose]

40. The media says he is "too liberal" therefore people believe it.....

Beats thinkin' fer yerself.

I agree...they have no idea what liberal even means...or meant.

[Scurrilous]

42. ROFL

:thumbsup:

[Laelth]

45. Very interesting theory. Probably some truth there.

Thanks.

-Laelth

[anAustralianobserver]

46. ZOMG A POLL

Here's another one -

Do you think Big Polling:

a) rarely has an agenda besides being a publicly responsible, crystal-clear reflector and illuminator of current opinion of important facts

b) sometimes has an agenda to manipulate policy (by demoralising or inciting people) for some interest group's $ or power

c) pretty much always has an agenda to manipulate policy (by demoralising or inciting people) for some interest group's $ or power


A guess of the results:
a) 33%
b) 12%
c) 55%

[tosh]

47. Foul.

This poll was taken November 11-14. The Tax deal was announced in December.

[QC]

50. The president has allowed the GOP to define him.

Most Democrats do this, to their great peril.

Then they respond by lurching rightward to show how not-liberal they are.

[Egnever]

55. Oh? then why isnt this place screaming he is a socialist?

instead of a corporate sellout?


Sounds like the media just defines him as bad news with no care whatsoever wether its bad news cause hes a sellout or if its bad news because hes a socialist and depending on the flavor coolaid you drink you run with that version.

[laughingliberal]

57. Big surprise-most Americans are without a clue. They'll all be living in their new feudal state

...wondering what the fuck hit 'em. And that includes all the Democrats who thought moving to the right more slowly would save us in the midst of the worst economic crisis and wealth disparity since the Great Depression.

Residents in other countries who still have a much better safety net than us are out protesting cuts that will still leave them better off than we are. When they hear of the conditions Americans live under, they're aghast.

[moondust]

58. Yup.

:smoke:

[Raine]

65. Yeah they won't even see it coming

and will be wondering how the hell they ended up penniless. Nowhere to turn for help except maybe a soup line if they're lucky.

[JoseGaspar]

59. The term is much too ambiguous to be used in this way...

... or to be used to conclude much of anything. Liberal simply means too many different things to too many different people, and changes from issue to issue.

For example, by far the most loyal Democratic voting block is African Americans. Something like 80 to 95% of the African American vote typically goes to Democrats, and in many cases, the more left-wing the better. Yet, in the following poll from North Carolina in 2009, 33% of African Americans describe themselves as "Conservative" while only 20% used to describe themselves as "Liberal"... until Obama's election... and now the percentage so describing themselves is at 38%. Suffice it to say that 18% of African Americans in North Carolina did not suddenly change their entire political ideology. It is simply that their context for the term has changed.

http://www.jwpcivitasinstitute.org/media/publication-archive/policy-brief/african-americans-drive-liberal-uptick

There are similar poll results in many other Democratic constituencies including union people, people in Democratic enclaves like the North East and West, and among Hispanics.

This confusion doubles in the other famous poll used to make the OP's point. This is the infamous, "85% of Democratic Liberals support Obama" poll. The problem with that Gallup poll is that there is a very significant ten to fifteen point difference in "support" between those who describe themselves as "Liberals" and those who describe themselves as "Liberal Democrats", with the former being less supportive. To add even more confusion, the first category is growing while the second is shrinking... the opposite of what is supposed to be happening in real life.

There is just too much semantics and too much ambiguity on this subject to be useful, let alone to take such a long leap to a conclusion.

[Le Taz Hot]

63. CNN is a major portion of the MSM

and is, therefore, part of the same fascist conspiracy that is taking this country, and all of it's citizens, down. Who watches CNN and thinks it's "news?" The uninformed. Who would respond to a CNN poll? The uninformed.

[Raine]

64. Image overides reality nt

[sendero]

67. There is a large swath of Americans..

.... that listen to Rush, Beck, Hannity and other assorted assholes who constantly bleat "socialist" about Obama.

Never mind that most of these idiots could not define the word if their life depended on it, they accept the label uncritically because they are true sheeple.

Obama is not remotely liberal. The fact that so many think he is proves the power of propaganda and the Big Lie.

[hobbit709]

69. Most people that use liberal as a pejorative

would consider anyone to the left of Temujin as liberal.

[nxylas]

70. We really are through the looking glass

I'm not going to fall into the trap of assuming that the poll is lying just because it tells me something I don't want to hear. Sadly, I find it all too easy to believe that a sizeable chunk of the population could be manipulated into thinking that Obama is "too liberal". Particularly people who watch CNN, which I regard as a bigger barrier to social change than Fox News. Everybody knows where Fox News stands, and it largely preaches to the choir, but too many people take CNN at its own self-evaluation as a neutral, independent voice or regard it as a part of the largely mythical "liberal media".

[Enthusiast]

71. I award this poll zero credence.

Faked, manufactured and manipulated.

No cheers.

[SoCalDem]

72. CNN? Most?

I don't believe their bullshit polls.. They poll until they get the results they want, then ballyhoo them 24/7.. They exist only to push their self-fulfilling prophesy...and to sell boner pills, stock scams & their own canned infotainment.

[Kalyke]

73. And, because our media sucks, most people don't even know what a real liberal is. eom