This week’s National Journal poll of political bloggers asked “How much confidence do you have in President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy?” On both the Left and the Right, no-one chose “A great deal of confidence.” The figures for “some confidence”/”not much confidence”/”no confidence” were 29%/50%/21% on the Left; and 43%/43%/14% on the Right.
I was among the “some confidence” voters. Although I disagree with the announcement of tentative plan to begin withdrawing after 18 months, and I was dismayed by the dithering of the last three months, I am persuaded by John McCain’s support for the Obama plan. If Senator McCain thinks that the Obama plan can work, then I am cautiously hopeful.
The second question in the National Journal poll was “Which is the bigger political imperative for Congress next year, creating jobs or reducing the deficit?” One hundred percent of the Left voted for “creating jobs,” as did 43% of the Right. Along with 50% of the Right, I voted for cutting the deficit, because “Reducing the deficit by ending the reckless spending spree will help improve business confidence, and thereby promote job creation.”
Steve says:
I know the reason my business isn’t hiring is because we are on pins and needles waiting to see if the federal government addresses the budget deficit. Wait, what? Do any of these political bloggers actually own a business?
December 4, 2009, 6:07 pmDave N says:
Re: the plurality support for “Not Much Confidence” regarding the President’s position on Afghanistan.
Left bloggers feel that way because they are afraid the President is serious.
Right bloggers feel that way because they are afraid the President is not.
December 4, 2009, 6:39 pmThe Awful Truth says:
The odd thing is that Obama’s plan is not getting its most enthusiastic support from not just conservatives but from neo-conservatives. That’s got to hurt.
Obama voters most feel the same way I felt when Bush passed the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
December 4, 2009, 6:43 pmSoronel Haetir says:
WRT Congress, jobs matter, it doesn’t matter how those jobs come about. If the employment situation doesn’t improve there will be a bunch of incumbents looking for new employment. If the jobs situation improves a lot of them will have much easier elections.
Budget is a long term thing, just like the folks on Wall Street who ran off the cliff by focusing short term, most politicians only look ahead to the next election cycle.
December 4, 2009, 7:10 pmJiffy says:
I doubt Obama himself has a “great deal of confidence” in the plan. At best it is the most promising on a menu of bad options.
December 4, 2009, 7:58 pmCrunchy Frog says:
After campaigning on “It’s Afghanistan, stupid,” Obama is as hemmed in as Clinton was when he finally signed welfare reform after vetoing it twice.
December 4, 2009, 8:03 pmMatthew Bilinsky says:
Kopel, your confidence stems from the support of John McCain? The guy who declared Afghanistan “won” about 15 times from 2004 to 2005?
I have confidence that this is the best of a bad bunch of options, but c’mon, if you’re going to post on the subject, do a little more independent analysis than “a Senator who has foreign policy credentials, but has been extremely shaky on foreign policy as of late (particularly Afghanistan) supports it, so I support it.”
Readers deserve better.
December 4, 2009, 8:07 pmDavid Sucher says:
“I am persuaded by John McCain’s support for the Obama plan.”
Could you please elaborate. What has John McCain ever said or done which would suggest that he has any sort of strategic talent? He is undoubtedly a very brave and tenacious man. But as to strategy…any kind of strategy. It seems to me that his choice of Palin as VP cost him the Presidency. And if he can’t think clearly for himself on such a huge issue why would you value his opinion on Afghanistan?
Btw, I suspect that Obama too doesn’t believe his plan will work. He has never (as President) given as poor a speech on as important a subject as he did at West Point. I was waiting and hoping to be convinced. But alas, he sounded like Colin Powell at the UN: wishful thinking, platitudes, hot air and banking on the trust people have in him. And I take no pleasure in saying that.
December 4, 2009, 8:15 pmJiffy says:
Obama has already doubled troop levels in Afghanistan since taking office. I can’t see that he was “hemmed in” to a decision to increase them even further.
December 4, 2009, 8:29 pmbob says:
Did McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin inspire confidence in you, too?
December 4, 2009, 8:32 pm24AheadDotCom says:
Could someone with more patience look through the left/right blogs and compile a table of their suggested ways to reduce unemployment? I’m going to guess (important disclaimer: this is just a guess and a generalization and not directed at anyone in particular) that most of those on the left will be calling for a 2nd stim/WPA, most of those on the right will be calling for changes that would have the impact of helping major corporations, and few if any will be calling for an easier plan. But, a timestamped table would be great if not of those bloggers then of those who have the same or greater influence.
December 4, 2009, 8:40 pmOff Kilter says:
“On both the Left and the Right, no-one chose “A great deal of confidence.”
Well, Obama DID pledge to bring us all together…
December 4, 2009, 9:11 pmJim W says:
Regarding businesses “waiting on pins and needles about the size of the federal deficit,” they’re actually worried about the cost of conducting business going up because of these contingencies occurring:
-cap and trade passing
-health care socialization passing
-obama and the dems attempting to balance the budget by raising taxes
All of which will have the effect of making it more expensive to survive, let alone turn enough of a profit to expand a business and start hiring new workers.
December 4, 2009, 9:16 pm24AheadDotCom says:
Could someone with more patience look through the left/right blogs and compile a table of their suggested ways to reduce unemployment? I’m going to guess (vitally important disclaimer: this is just a guess and a generalization and not directed at anyone in particular) that most of those on the left will be calling for a 2nd stim/WPA, most of those on the right will be calling for changes that would have the impact of helping major corporations, and few if any will be calling for an easier plan. But, a timestamped table would be great if not of those bloggers then of others who have greater influence.
December 4, 2009, 10:47 pmEH says:
Medicare D, TARP, Afghanistan…seems the least popular policies are the ones that benefit only the interested industries.
December 4, 2009, 10:57 pmSteve says:
Regarding businesses “waiting on pins and needles about the size of the federal deficit,” they’re actually worried about the cost of conducting business going up because of these contingencies occurring:
Yeah, again, this stuff has no relationship to what the vast majority of actual businesses are concerned about. The idea that businesses are “worried” about health care reform passing is almost comical.
December 4, 2009, 11:06 pmCornellian says:
This week’s National Journal poll of political bloggers asked “How much confidence do you have in President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy?” On both the Left and the Right, no-one chose “A great deal of confidence.” The figures for “some confidence”/“not much confidence”/“no confidence” were 29%/50%/21% on the Left; and 43%/43%/14% on the Right.
Well bloggers are the experts on such things, so QED.
December 4, 2009, 11:15 pmGuy says:
Maybe we should take a poll of bloggers asking whether we should care about polls of bloggers? I’m withholding judgment until then.
December 4, 2009, 11:22 pmMark N. says:
The 1st and 3rd I can see, but as far as I can tell, most businesses are in favor of the 2nd. The inflation in costs of employer-provided health insurance is killing a lot of businesses, and at this point many would love the government to take the problem off their hands.
December 6, 2009, 3:31 pm