Leo Marvin:
“[T]he One” sums up the substance and objectivity of your analysis.

Excuse me, it was not “my analysis.” The words you put in quotation marks above were part of a quote from the RedState.com blog, as my post clearly indicated. On the other hand, Obama has repeatedly been referred to as “The One” by his adulators. So, why not use it, since those who idolize him do? Got a problem with that?

The Obama people know the roof could cave in on them after the 2010 election. That’s why they are rushing everything. But a year in politics is a very long time.

Tim Condon: All of this adds up to the One’s plunge (emphasis added)

“[T]he One” sums up the substance and objectivity of your analysis.

Bruce Hayden says:
“They aren’t — for White or (now) Asians. We have no reason to believe that Obama did not attend either school as an Affirmative Action admittee. And, of course on AA scholarships. ”

I love the standard of ‘we have no reason to believe [that something bad] did not happen’. It actually lowers the logical standards for internet debate.

“As for McCain, my understanding is that class rank at military academies includes behavior — demerits result in reduction in class standing, and the same wild behavior that resulted in a lot of demerits also helped him fly off of a carrier at night, survive a catastrophic fire on a carrier deck, only to catch the next carrier headed back to Vietnam, and then brave the flak over Hanoi. ”

As opposed to a very large number of McCain’s classmates, who also did the same? I fail to see the logic here, probably because I don’t have a microscope.

“Wednesday, November 18th at 1:00PM EST….

Obama’s job approval rating fell to 48 percent in the Nov. 9-16 survey of registered voters nationwide by the Hamden, Connecticut-based university, with 42 percent polled saying they disapproved of the job he is doing.

….

26% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -14. That matches the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President

Just 47% of Democrats now Strongly Approve of the President’s performance. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Republicans Strongly Disapprove, as do 43% of those not affiliated with either major political party.

….

Republican candidates maintain a six-point advantage over Democrats in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot.

This lead has held for four months now, on top of which you also see independents swinging to Republicans 41% to 24%. All of this adds up to the One’s plunge in the Presidential Approval Index.

….

The policies of this Administration are now in a clear minority. The people disapprove of the direction these policies are starting to take us. This has been bubbling up for a while and eventually it is bound to overcome Obama’s personal likability with the voters.

When that happens the Republican party needs to be ready to embrace the more conservative shift that we are about to go through. Right now 74% of Republicans feel as though their representatives in Congress are out of touch. Contrast that with this.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Republican voters say that Sarah Palin shares their values. Just 18% see her as a divisive force within the GOP. A clear majority of Republicans are disappointed with the GOP at the same time as they are identifying closely with the values they share with Sarah Palin.”

A. Zarkov:
Did you look at my link?

No. I should have been clearer I was referring only to the polls listed on PollingReport.com. Regardless, I said I have no problem with your 52.6% number.

But even if we use 56%, Obama’s approval has been falling at a much greater rate than Bush’s average fall rate during his administration.

And I assume it will continue to fall, as it would for any President in this economy. To repeat one more time, I was only responding to Cuban Bob’s farcical claim that Bush took six years to sink to this level of approval.

What make him my ideological brethren?

ODS

I didn’t say anything about Palin, except I thought she was an airhead. Now perhaps she will do something in the future that will change my opinion, but so far I don’t understand why anyone finds her a promising candidate.

Neither do I, yet thanks to the derangement of the Republican base I won’t be surprised if she does well in the 2012 primaries. My point was simply that she’s viewed very skeptically by a broad swath of the electorate. The tendency by many here to wave off her negatives as the handiwork of her opponents is as unhinged as claiming it took Bush six years to reach Obama’s current level of approval.

Nevertheless, the personal attacks on her by Democrats and most of the media, and some of the Republicans are disgraceful.

The personal attacks on her reflect the sorry state of our political discourse. Obama hasn’t been personally attacked? Hillary Clinton? John McCain somewhat less so, I assume out of deference to his hero status, but Kerry, Bush, Cheney, Edwards? And you may have noticed, not only hasn’t Palin shied away from the mud fight, she instigated it. She branded herself a pit bull soccer mom, “Sarahcuda,” and she was on the personal offensive from day one. If she didn’t see political value in being attacked personally, you have to wonder why she continually tries to put the fire out with gasoline.

Why are they afraid of an airhead?

George W. Bush was elected President. Twice.

(No, I’m not implying Bush is an airhead. Just manifestly unfit for the job to which he was elected. Twice.)

neurodoc: Bush’s SATs were far below average for those admitted to Yale and would equate with an IQ around 115. So not “stupid,” but hardly a genius.

True but at least he revealed his scores. Kerry didn’t until after the campaign, and no wonder– his were lower. If Obama has higher scores than Bush, why won’t he release them?

neurodoc: But I am taken aback by the claim that graduation from HLS magna cum laude isn’t very persuasive evidence of “superior intellect.”

In the absence of a record of intellectual accomplishment after graduation, I’m not impressed. Graduating magna cum laude is evidence of a potential for future intellectual accomplishment. When that potential is not realized, we have cause to suspect it’s some kind of fluke, especially in the absence of confirmatory evidence.

neurodoc: It is so absurd that it suggests the possibilities of a new Derangement Syndrome, this time ODS, or racism.

You’re playing the race card is disgraceful, insulting, and lowers the level of the discussion here.

Tim Condon: Because she has an excellent grasp of energy issues? Because her policy prescriptions resonate with a majority of the American people?

Then why are her poll numbers so low? After all she’s been through a presidential campaign that gave her a chance to get her message out.

Tim Condon: Because she has an excellent grasp of energy issues?

I don’t think she has demonstrated anything more that simple common sense with respect to energy issues. Of course common sense is enough to make anyone look like a genius compared to the Democrats on energy. But seriously, do you think she’s prepared to discuss in depth the problems with wind energy, solar, global warming, cap and trade? Did she tell the public that current regulations won’t allow the use of modern seismic techniques to even explore for oil on the north shelf?

Tim Condon: Read her book and/or listen to her interviews by Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, Bill O’Reilly

I have not seen her current interviews, but in the past she has not done so well. She was unable to name significantly bad Supreme Court decsions and that shows poor preparation.

Tim Condon: From what you perceive, consider whether Sarah Palin actually deserves the spewing ridicule and hatred displayed by several posters on this thread.

Of course she doesn’t. The vitriol directed against her here, by some in the media, most Democrats, and some Republicans is absolutely disgraceful. I suppose I should not have called her an “airhead,” but I’m just not impressed by her performance so far.

A. Zarkov:
This is exactly what I mean by spin. George Bush went to a private prep school, then to Yale (more selective than Columbia at least now days) and earned an MBA at Harvard Business School… Yet his detractors deride him as stupid. George Bush had legacy for Yale…

“Legacy” is a bit of understatement, at least where Andover and Yale were concerned, in years when that was enough to get clearly inferior students admitted. Bush’s SATs were far below average for those admitted to Yale and would equate with an IQ around 115. So not “stupid,” but hardly a genius.

So pretty much your whole case for Obama’s superior intellect rests on his class standing at HLS. That’s pretty thin if you ask me.

I’m no fan of affirmative action admissions, and I will allow there is reason to suspect that Obama was admitted to schools when others with similar records would not have been. But I am taken aback by the claim that graduation from HLS magna cum laude isn’t very persuasive evidence of “superior intellect.” Discount his admission to HLS as possible/probable AA, and discount his making HLR and being chosen its president, but to deny the significance of his class standing in the most selective of law schools is absurd. It is so absurd that it suggests the possibilities of a new Derangement Syndrome, this time ODS, or racism. I prefer to think it the former here.

Leo Marvin: My “cherry picked number” just happened to be the most recent poll. There’s now an even more recent one, CNN, which has Obama at 55%. The only other poll reported for November, AP, comes in at 54%.

Did you look at my link? Five polls, all in mid November including the CNN poll you refer to. They average to 52.6%. But even if we use 56%, Obama’s approval has been falling at a much greater rate than Bush’s average fall rate during his administration.

Leo Marvin: I was just responding to one of your ideological brethren who claimed I was out of touch with reality,

What make him my ideological brethren?

Leo Marvin: that it took Bush’s approval rating 6 years to sink to Obama’s level today.

That means Obama’s approval rating has been falling faster than Bush’s. In other words, Obama is doing worse than Bush so far.

Leo Marvin: While I’m “cherry-picking,” here’s the most recent poll on Sarah Palin

I didn’t say anything about Palin, except I thought she was an airhead. Now perhaps she will do something in the future that will change my opinion, but so far I don’t understand why anyone finds her a promising candidate. Nevertheless, the personal attacks on her by Democrats and most of the media, and some of the Republicans are disgraceful. Why are they afraid of an airhead?

CBS News Poll. Nov. 13-15, 2009. N=873 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3 (for all adults). RV = registered voters.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Is your opinion of Sarah Palin favorable, not favorable, undecided, or haven’t you heard enough about Sarah Palin yet to have an opinion?”

Favorable-23% Not Favorable-38% Undecided-20% Haven’t Heard-17% Refused Answer-2%

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Would you like to see Sarah Palin run for president of the United States in 2012, or not?”

Total: Would-24% Would not-66% Unsure-10%
Repub. Would-44% Would not-48% Unsure-08%
Democ. Would-09% Would not-83% Unsure-08%
Indep. Would-26% Would not-62% Unsure-12%

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Do you think Sarah Palin would have the ability to be an effective president?”

Total: Yes-26% No-62% Unsure-12%
Repub. Yes-43% No-39% Unsure-18%
Democ. Yes-11% No-84% Unsure-05%
Indep. Yes-29% No-58% Unsure-13%

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I encourage Tim Condon and his friends to keep telling themselves it’s only hateful liberals who doubt Palin’s ability to be President. I’d say Dick Cheney would be a more viable candidate if I was more confident you’d get the joke.

My “cherry picked number” just happened to be the most recent poll. There’s now an even more recent one, CNN, which has Obama at 55%. The only other poll reported for November, AP, comes in at 54%. That sounds to me like nothing in the 54 to 56% range is likely to be too far off, but if you want to argue that 52.6% is a better indicator of his job approval, fine. I was just responding to one of your ideological brethren who claimed I was out of touch with reality, and that it took Bush’s approval rating 6 years to sink to Obama’s level today. Nothing you said contradicts the unintended irony of that remark.

Leo Marvin: Really? According the Washington Post poll released yesterday, Obama has a 56% job approval rating.

If you go over to Real Clear Politics you will find that 56% is highest number reported there. An average of 5 recent polls yields 52.6%. Now Rasmussen samples likely voters instead of registered voters or the general population, and that could bias the average down if likely voters somehow don’t approve of Obama as much as the others. Otherwise I see no reason to think 56% is a better number than the others.

As for Bush, his approval dropped to about 55% about 6 months after he took office, then shot up to 90%, and fell to about 88% in November 2001. Of course his high approval after 10 months was an artifact of the Muslim attack on the WTC. However a year later his approval was higher than Obama rating now. We don’t know yet how far and how fast Obama will fall.

If we neglect the transient artifact cause by the Muslim attack, Bush fell about 5 points per year over the course of his two terms. Compare and contrast to Obama, who has fallen 69-52.6= 16.4 points over 10 months, which is 19.7 points per year. By this measure Obama is doing much worse. Of course we really can’t compare 8 years to 10 months, but we shouldn’t use your cherry picked number either. In my opinion we really can’t do a comparison at this stage. Who knows Obama could get removed from office.

rpt: For a multi-million dollar advance it is not too much to ask that the book be accurate and truthful such that 50 fact-checkers couldn’t dent it. Don’t the lawyers here cite check as a matter of custom and practice? Is this too heavy a burden for Palin and/or her ghostwriter?

Their problem is that the facts and the narrative don’t mix. One had to go.

Cheers,

Tim Condon: This is why I very strongly support Palin and her growing political power. Power which, incidentally, will be very much on display in the mid-term elections in the coming year.

Matching T-shirts, I think: “I’m with stoopid”

Cheers,

Leo Marvin: But I’m the one who won’t let reality intrude on my illusions, right? Get a grip. Seriously.

<sotto voce> Shhhhhhhhh!

Cheers,

Richard Aubrey: There was a report that an SEIU guy filed for work comp when he fell off a curb beating up Kenneth Gladney.

There’s a report that Ken Gladney is a mommy’s boy. A real whiner. Kind of like most of the Republican whiners about the Scary Terra-ists Coming To Amur’kah….

Cheers,

Richard Aubrey: So, guys. Ayers is okay with you?

I dunno. It does rather bother me than he’s been visiting the White House so many times after Obama took up residence there…..

Cheers,

Tim Condon: This thread may have attracted a different crowd, but the extreme, ongoing battle on it shows that members of the Left aren’t going to be allowed a free ride to spew their ridicule, venom, and hatred anymore. Particularly not against Sarah Palin.

No more free ride? What, she’s doing to start charging us to ridicule her?

This is becoming obvious at venues throughout the country, as tea parties break out in every state,

They’re working on a vaccine.

and Obama sinks ever closer to a below-50% approval rating.

I forget, what is Caribou Barbie’s approval rating? Oh, that’s right! 40%. And 63% don’t consider her a serious candidate for President.

(Washington Post, by the way…now there’s an unbiased authority on ideological and political issues!)

Fred Hiatt’s on your side. Didn’t you get the memo?

The political class is united as they have rarely been in asserting that Palin is unqualified, stupid, a joke, a liar (tonight on Oberman), etc., while at the same time carrying on a vicious, ongoing smear campaign against her. So which is it? Is she “a joke” as they say?

Yes. She is all of the above.

Or is the problem that she may well be a deadly threat to the unprincipled political operators who run Washington, DC? It is the latter. Palin, as a mere political beginner, took on a corrupt statewide “old boy network” in Alaska…and destroyed them. Some went to prison. All had their political careers destroyed. She has proven that she is both inclined and capable of successfully challenging entrenched political corruption. It is quite plain that Washington, DC is scared.

And think what she could have accomplished if she hadn’t quit 18 months early.

Palin is an emerging political leader that the entire tea party movement could rally behind; this is why the political class and its media toadies are going all-out to destroy her. If she garners real national political power, she will be a huge threat to the politicians and other political operators who benefit from the very lucrative game in Washington, DC.

Dude, if Sarah Palin garners real national political power, the first thing she would be a threat to is the constitution.

This is why I very strongly support Palin and her growing political power. Power which, incidentally, will be very much on display in the mid-term elections in the coming year.

But first, she has to finish a book tour complaining about how mean McCain was to her last year.

Palin’s record in the 2009 elections is 0-1.

Tim Condon: RPT said:
Ahem. Wrong again. It’s not really hard to see where the “11 reporters meme” came from: Associated Press. When AP did its little attempted smear against Palin’s book a few days ago, the article was written by Calvin Woodward. At the end of the foolish little piece was a notation that “AP writers Matt Apuzzo, Sharon Theimer, Tom Raum, Rita Beamish, Beth Fouhy, H. Josef Hebert, Justin D. Pritchard, Garance Burke, Dan Joling and Lewis Shaine contributed to this report.” For you liberals out there, 1 author plus 10 “contributors” equals 11 little media toadies for Obama and his government(which is what AP has become as a whole anyway).

For a multi-million dollar advance it is not too much to ask that the book be accurate and truthful such that 50 fact-checkers couldn’t dent it. Don’t the lawyers here cite check as a matter of custom and practice? Is this too heavy a burden for Palin and/or her ghostwriter?

Richard Aubrey: So, guys.Ayers is okay with you?
Figured as much.

Conclusions, schmonclusions.
It’s the bogus facts where we need to start.

Conclusions, schmonclusions.
It’s the bogus facts where we need to start.

Richard Aubrey: So, guys.Ayers is okay with you?
Figured as much.

cubanbob:

Leo Marvin:
What’s the evidence Obama has “generated” any loathing except by the sort so prominent in this thread, i.e., RW’ers who loathed him long before he was President[?]

You are free to delude yourself as much as you wish. Far be it from me to let reality disturb your illusions. [...] It only took Bush six years to get Obama’s current approval numbers.

Really? According the Washington Post poll released yesterday, Obama has a 56% job approval rating. And how long did it take Bush’s numbers to sink that low? Six years, like you say? How about less than six weeks? The very first poll the Post took of Bush’s job approval had him at 55%. By six years later he was at 36%.

But I’m the one who won’t let reality intrude on my illusions, right? Get a grip. Seriously.

I hope you all keep talking about how Ayers and Wright make Obama a terrorist-loving racist. It worked so well last time. And bring on Palin ’12!

It’s like Nixon going to China or Albright meeting with Kim Jong Il! Civilized Humans do not do such things. Those that do are anti-civilization beasts slavering under the surface, and you can only tell cause they don’t actively disassociate themselves from bad guys.

Richard Aubrey: We get to speculate.

Oh yes. It’s still a free country. And Beck the Weeper can speculate on Obama’s Mooslimness, and Kenyan birth, anonanon…. There’s no right to be right, of course. Which you’ll probably interpret as a personal attack….

Cheers,

Mithras: “Kill him!” proposed one man in the audience. 

Uh, Mithras, I believe that “one man” in the audience was determined to be the author of the article. If you can’t find racism and hatred, roll your own!

Richard Aubrey: It’s the bogus facts where we need to start.

Which is how you started right in, eh? ;-)

Cheers,