An Explanation of Polling Numbers

[Bullet1987]

I posted the below comment in another thread about Obama's approval rating.
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Ok. When was the last time approval ratings got policy passed? Of course DU isn't representative of America...no internet forum is. People who post on DU on a daily basis are typically much more informed about current events and much more defined in their political beliefs and wants. We follow the progression of bills, we watch C-SPAN for crying out loud! How many Americans do you think even know what C-SPAN is? We read more news articles in a week than most Americans probably do in a month. I think Democrats AT LARGE are still going to give Barack Obama a chance into 2010...as I am. That doesn't mean I won't criticize bad decisions he makes. That's the point people miss, criticism doesn't equate to wanting Obama to fail. We criticize because we WANT him to succeed. Most of DU still want Obama to be successful I believe, but the anti-corporate sentiments are strong here and that's where the friction begins. Favorability polls are always going to look good for Obama because most people still LIKE HIM. Charisma goes a long way with polls like these. But I gurantee you, if you poll Americans and ask them if they think Obama can do more...or they WANT him to do more...you'll have many people saying yes. A number of Americans also realize that Obama came into this mess, he didn't create it...nobody has forgotten about Bush (even though the MSM has). So Obama is being given the benefit of the doubt by a lot of people which is understandable...but that's not going to last forever. And don't think for one second that what happened in MA can't happen in November.

[Captain Hilts]

1. But most people - including DUers - read the Internet for affirmation, not information. nt

[Bullet1987]

2. Same difference...

Unless by information you mean truth. And affirmation you mean...looking to validate your established beliefs. In that case, information is relative. Because absolute truth is relative and hard to find in the political world. Most people's beliefs are based off of their feelings.