popular

From Jumping in Pools:

This might come across as a strange question for those on the left and the right. On the left, he was seen as a transcending figure whose popularity was due to America's sudden shift to "progressive values." Yeah right. To conservatives, it was a sign that a lot of Americans really didn't know what was going on.

But there are factors to show that Obama was perhaps less popular than Al Gore, John Kerry, or even George W. Bush in the 2008 election.

Factors:

1. Bush was very unpopular, and Obama couldn't even reach 55%.

Take a look at Bush's approval ratings. Around election time in 2008, he was lucky if one pollster placed him above the 40% mark. Not to mention that about 60% of the nation disapproved. Under these circumstances, Obama should have easily peeled off those that disapproved-- instead he faced a tough fight among members of his own party.

2. McCain was disliked by many conservatives. Many stayed home.

The winner of the 2008 Republican nomination was someone who was demonized worse within his own party than by the Democrats. Hundreds of thousands of conservative and libertarian voters stayed home due to this fact. Would they have swung the election the other way? Probably not. But swinging a couple of states and reducing the margin from 7% to 4% would show the lack of Obama's true popularity. Keep in mind that voter turnout declined in 2008...

Read the rest at Jumping in Pools here

One of the more prevalent notions that I have read lately is that Republicans should focus on criticizing Democrats in Congress instead of President Obama due to the President’s sky high approval ratings. Conventional wisdom suggests that Republican attacks on an enormously popular Obama would likely backfire and instead hurt Republicans, while Democrats in an incredibly unpopular Congress are much more susceptible to damaging attacks. Senator Lindsey Graham today took a very different approach, taking the fight directly to the President and arguing that Obama has been “AWOL on providing leadership.”

Graham’s strategy clearly breaks with what is perceived to be the smarter — or at the very least, safer — method of winning legislative battles. His willingness to do this bears the question: can such attacks against the President be successful despite his popularity? I’m starting to think so. After all, as I touched on yesterday, Republicans are currently winning the debate on the stimulus package, and its popularity continues to diminish. Considering the GOP’s minority status in Congress and the terrible results of the 2008 election, this is quite impressive. Moreover, the image of the Obama administration has been tarnished in the early goings by an abysmal vetting process that has resulted in three separate nominees who have been involved in tax controversies.

With the economy continuing to tank and headlines constantly running about rampant corruption (Blagojevich) and tax controversies (Geithner, Killefer, and Daschle), the public continues to grow increasingly frustrated. After all, where’s the “hope” and “change” for which they just voted when they elected President Obama? Perhaps by taking a gamble and following Senator Graham’s lead in going directly after President Obama when he’s wrong, Republicans can take a step toward winning back the majority in 2010.

Crossposted at NextGenGOP

I'm native Northern Californian - East Bay native in fact. This is not so common around here and  I'm proud of it. What I'm not so proud about is that I've always felt I was in the proverbial political closet living here.

As a child, I couldn't give a care about what was going on out 'there'. For me, it was all about hopscotch and sleep overs. It all changed as I became a teenager and started to really have my own opinions. My earliest recollection of not fitting in was New Year's Eve 1979. My best friends wanted to listen to Deep Purple and all I wanted to hear was disco - but I bit my tongue and said nothing. It wasn't cool to like disco anymore. Here in the Bay Area, you had to like heavy metal.

This went all all throughout my high school and college days. Friends would want to people watch at the airport and I wanted to grab and bite and watch a movie. The analogies could go on and on. But I was smart enough to know that in my circles, I was the minority and unless I wanted to stick out like a sore thumb, I should just shut up and go with the flow. So I did. Little follower I was.

Until one day, I realized that my parents, who never foisted upon me their political belief system, were kinda smart people. My dad grew up dirt poor in Pennsylvania (my Mom's side of the family is where I get my deep bay area roots). He joined the Navy, landed in SF at some point, met and married my Mom and immediately started a family. Dad became a salesman for blind and handicapped products door to door. Then got a more stable job as a meat cutter at Safeway. Worked his butt off to get a 2-year degree so he could join the Fire Dept. Which he did. And he also started a side business doing small landscape projects. So between the fire dept, the meat cutting job and his own small landscape business, he was able to provide a pretty decent middle class home for his wife and 3 kids. God bless him and his desire to be the best he could be - no excuses and no handouts.

So one day I wake up and realize he's been the inspiration behind my hard work ethic. I thank him and we dialog as adults. It helped me to realize that all along, I knew the path I would always take and always wanted to take was perhaps the less popular. See, here in the East Bay of SF, it's very popular to be liberal. And if you're not, you better not say a word. In fact, you better just shup up and go with the flow. But I won't. And I haven't.

This election year, I did something I am still nervous about. I've been sporting a McCain-Palin bumper sticker. I keep waiting to get into a verbal altercation or see my car keyed. So far so good, but I do back my car into stalls to be safe.

So folks, I know I'm not alone - and I know it seems so much more popular to be liberal, and that I cannot recall a time in my hometown where being conservative was the cool thing, but when exactly did it become a requirement by so many to conform to the homogenous ways of your local society?