As Pres BO's polls continue to drop, specially to 35% with independents, some in the "media in the tank for BO" have drawn comparisons to Pres Clinton and Pres Reagan.
It goes like this: Pres Clinton and Pres Reagan were down in the polls in year 3 and went on to win reelection.
It is true that Pres Reagan had a terrible recession in 1982-83 with 10% unemployment and high inflation. Furthermore, he lost 26 House seats in the 1982 mid-term.
It is also true that Pres Clinton lost the House & Senate in 1994 and face many "electability" issues in 1995.
What's the difference?
Pres Clinton had Ross Perot. In other words, Pres Clinton did not need 50% of the vote to get reelected.
Pres Clinton also had 4.8% unemployment, the dividend of having "inherited" a growing economy in 1993.
He also signed every Republican bill into law and threw the liberal wing overboard in '96. (Pres Clinton's disregard of the party's left wing translated into 4 million votes for Nader in 2000 and was the real reason that VP Gore lost that election!)
Pres Reagan was in another league. He was always seen by the voters as a strong executive figure, the kind of decisive, principled leader that Pres BO is not.
By the way, let me add that "the yes we can" screamers will also be very disappointed to read this poll comparing Pres BO to Pres GW Bush:
"The results were surprising. Just 43% said Mr. Obama had been a better president while 48% favored Mr. Bush.
A majority of 56% said that Mr. Obama did not deserve a second term.
Mr. Bush’s increasing popularity coupled with Schoen’s results show that the voting public is much less inclined to pay attention to attacks against Mr. Bush this time around.
Running another referendum on Bush could end up backfiring on President Obama."
P.S. Check out Saturday's audio commentary:
Listen to internet radio with Silvio Canto Jr on Blog Talk Radio
Tags: President Obama's electoral troubles, Clinton '96, Reagan '84 To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
