Despite the economic downturn, the polling industry is not hurting for business. Most recently, Public Policy Polling released their latest, the 2012 presidential winner. They polled 691 residents of Raleigh, N.C., in a hypothetical match-up between Obama and Palin for the White House come what may, 2012! As the title of the article alluded, Obama wins again, with a knock-out punch! Here’s a snippet of their findings:
Several post election polls have shown Sarah Palin as the Presidential nominee of choice for Republicans in 2012, but a new national survey from Public Policy. Polling suggests that such a contest would result in the largest popular vote blowout since George McGovern ran against Richard Nixon in 1972. Obama leads Palin 55-35 in the hypothetical contest. He has an 89-7 advantage amongDemocrats. Among Republican he trails 66-17. Last year exit polls showed Obamawinning only 9% of the Republican vote, so it appears Palin would lose a lot more voterswithin her party than McCain did.
Note, more Democrats were polled than Republicans, that can sometimes skew the results. Most importantly, do you think it’s a bit premature to weigh in and declare a hypothetical winner for a hypothetical presidential race? Especially since we just celebrated an historical inauguration a few months ago. Are we that much in a hurry to see the future and not focus on how this pans out?
Lately, much criticism has been fired at President Obama for what appears to be a continual campaign effort on his part. Let me explain. First, the town hall meetings, it appears that whenever a spending bill or a piece of legislation that may negatively affect his approval ratings is on the table, a promotional event takes place. It seems to be in the form of town hall meetings. And what's up with the teleprompter, don't you have it down by now? My take is this, if you have to hard sell ideas, perhaps they are not the right ones.
Next on the agenda, President Obama will be appearing on the Tonight Show, hosted by funny man, Jay Leno. No, it’s not because he is starring in a new summer block buster movie. So what’s there to promote? Money! Isn’t the forum usually reserved for Hollywood types promoting a movie or project? In other words, it’s fertile ground for breaking in to the movie and music industry. Not the usual decorum for a sitting president to appear. After that, President Obama plans to hold more town hall meetings in Los Angeles, California. No, I don’t think it’s a book signing or a party.
On another similar chord, President Obama recently made a public announcement, one in which he asked supporters to knock on neighboring doors and sell the benefits of his economic plans. Again, what is it that President Obama is trying to sell to the public, but has clearly failed to convey to the majority of tax-paying Americans? Maybe clarification of vision is in order. A simple question answered: What exactly are you selling to the American people? And, what is it that we are supposed to buy into? We are interested in change, but in what direction?
As you can imagine, when I came across this hypothetical poll for the 2012 presidential race, I began to wonder if the criticism raised by Obama’s seeming campaign mode may hold some validity. If so, can the President effectively perform his current duties as Chief and still run a campaign? My understanding is that he was able to do "it" in the Senate, while, keeping an eye on the highest office. But should he continue that same path? Can we transition from the hunting trail to the business of running the country effectively and well?
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_National_318.pdf
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