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=Obama’s Rating Falls as Poll Reflects Volatility=

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By [|JIM RUTENBERG] and [|MARJORIE CONNELLY]======

Published: March 12, 2012

 * Summary: ** Over the past several weeks, the approval rating for Obama has declined with 41 percent expressing approval of the job he is doing and 47 percent expressing disapproval. The fluctuation shows how unpredictable the race for presidency still is. If you put them head to head, the differences between Obama and Romney and the differences between Obama and Santorum are very slight, and have gotten smaller since last month. For the most part Americans do believe that the economy is getting better, but the rising gas prices are affecting some of their opinions. In addition, Obama’s foreign policy tactics have some in disagreement, which the Republican candidates use to criticize Obama. However Americans do seem to have confidence in his ability as commander in chief, nearly 58 percent. Romney and Santorum are clearly the front-runners, but Republican primary voters view Romney as having the best chance to beat Obama.


 * Relevance: ** I think this article relates pretty well to the unit we just finished studying in class. When Roosevelt was elected President, Americans were looking at what Hoover had done and realizing that they needed someone who would bring change, even if it wasn’t the best ideas. They just wanted someone who had different ideas than Hoover in hopes that it would turn out better. I think there are examples of this in almost all elections. As shown in the article, some Americans aren’t happy with the rising gas prices and are blaming Obama’s approach in Iran on the rising gas prices. Even if this isn’t the case, people like to see change when they aren’t getting what they want. They probably don’t even know if Obama’s approach in Iran is causing the rising gas prices, but they want to blame something. Likewise, Hoover’s tactics of a reserved government that doesn’t intervene might not have been all bad, but people wanted to see something different because they were tired of the results they were getting with Hoover. Another example would be the 2004 presidential election when George Bush was elected President. During his first term the terrorist attacks happened which led to the war in Iraq. Bush was a supporter of the war, which some people disagreed with (2004). Now these people may have been the same people that voted for Al Gore in the previous election, but Bush’s decision about the war was after the election so the people had to deal with his decisions until the next election (2000). Even though he ended up being re-elected, there were people that strongly disagreed with his approach in Iraq and would have liked to see another President making different decisions (2004).


 * Evaluation: ** The topic of politics is obviously being discussed more and more as the election draws closer. Everyone wants to state their opinion on who they think will win and why, and people are quick to point out issues with other candidates. Even though many people have probably made up their minds already on who they will vote for, events between now and the election could alter their decision. I think Americans are quick to point out why they don’t like a certain candidate or what they think they are doing wrong, even if they themselves don’t have a better solution to the problem. In Obama’s case it seems as though the rising oil prices and his foreign policy tactics are the two topics that people have the biggest problems with. Whether that will significantly affect the race or not we don’t know yet, but his ratings have dropped very slightly over the past several weeks. In a situation like this with the candidates being so close, it is impossible to determine what the final outcome will be, especially since we don’t know what will happen between now and the election. Anything could happen that would either take away or increase Obama’s ratings. We will just have to wait until November to see how things play out.


 * Questions: **
 * 1) Will Obama get re-elected for another term?
 * 2) Will the incident in Afghanistan affect people’s views on Obama?
 * 3) Will the number of democratic and republican presidents continue to be pretty even over the next several years?
 * 4) What events between now and the election will affect people’s votes?
 * 5) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do people usually change their mind in response to certain events and actions taken by the government or do they stick to whichever party they declare themselves as?
 * 6) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What is it about Romney that people think that he has the best chance against Obama?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Rutenberg, Jim, and Marjorie Connelly. "Obama's Rating Falls as Poll Reflects Volatility." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"United States Presidential Election, 2000." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2000>. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"United States Presidential Election, 2004." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2004>.

<span style="display: block; height: 1px; left: -40px; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; text-indent: -36pt; top: -25px; width: 1px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Rutenberg, Jim, and Marjorie Connelly. "Obama's Rating Falls as Poll Reflects Volatility." <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//The New York Times// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. The New York Times Company, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <span style="display: block; height: 1px; left: -40px; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; text-indent: -36pt; top: -25px; width: 1px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"United States Presidential Election, 2000." <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//Wikipedia// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2000>. <span style="display: block; height: 1px; left: -40px; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; text-indent: -36pt; top: -25px; width: 1px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"United States Presidential Election, 2004." <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//Wikipedia// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2004>.