Earlier WaPo noted that second term approval rating of Obama, the “smartest President ever“, were closely correlated with Bush II, widely considered by liberals to be the “dumbest President ever“.
Today CBS News released a poll that shows that Obama’s approval rating has hit 37%.
President Barack Obama’s job approval rating has plunged to the lowest of his presidency. 37% now approve of the job he is doing as president, down from 46% in October – a nine point drop in just a month. Mr. Obama’s disapproval rating is 57% – the highest level for this president in CBS News polls.
But what is his real approval rating?
In 2004 Newsweek editor Evan Thomas noted the boost to the Kerry/Edwards ticket provided by the press: “There’s one other base here: the media. Let’s talk a little media bias here. The media, I think, wants Kerry to win. And I think they’re going to portray Kerry and Edwards — I’m talking about the establishment media, not Fox, but — they’re going to portray Kerry and Edwards as being young and dynamic and optimistic and all, there’s going to be this glow about them that some, is going to be worth, collectively, the two of them, that’s going to be worth maybe 15 points.” This was later dialed down to 5%.
“Absolutely,” most reporters want John Kerry to win the election, declares Newsweek’s Evan Thomas, commenting on the media bias he says translates into “maybe” five extra points for the Democratic ticket at the polls. That’s down from the 15 points Mr. Thomas first predicted Fourth Estate favor would bestow on Kerry-Edwards, but even five points could tip a race as close as this one.
Is it then safe to subtract at least 5% from Obama’s approval rating, thus leaving him with a 32% approval rating? That would be even lower than Bush’s lowest rating of 35% which was helped downward with relentless negative media coverage.
Where will that leave MSNBC’s Chris Matthews who in 2008 stated that it was his job to ensure the success of the Obama presidency?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Yeah, well, you know what? I want to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work, and I think that —
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Is that your job? You just talked about being a journalist!
MATTHEWS: Yeah, it is my job. My job is to help this country.