Obama’s Accomplishments Are Many, Approval Average

By John Basel

Last November Newsweek’s cover story was titled “Yes He Can (But He Sure Hasn’t Yet)”.  Saturday Night Live ran a sketch in which an Obama look-alike comic proudly proclaimed “When you look at my record it’s very clear what I’ve done so far and that is nothing.  Nada.” All the major networks, news channels, and pundits and chiming in.  Obama’s first year plus has been an exercise in futility.  There’s been lots of talk of reform but little to show for it.

But is that the case or is it just that’s what we’re being told by a media that focuses on bad news and the one big story of the day, whatever that may be?  One thing is for sure.  The Republicans are chanting the Obama failure mantra continuously until, they hope, it sticks.  “…the media is focusing almost exclusively on Obama’s critics, without holding them responsible for the uncivil, unconstructive tone of their disagreements…The misinformation and venom that now passes for political reporting and civic debate is beyond description.” (Robert Watson, Ph.D., Lynn University 

In reality, “At 50%, President Obama’s approval rating is similar to that of Presidents Ronald Reagan (49%),Jimmy Carter (51%) and Bill Clinton (54%) one year into their presidencies. All were plagued by economic troubles – and Mr. Clinton also attempted to reform health care. “  (CBSnews.com)

Prodded on by the likes of Karl Rove declaring Obama to have the worst approval rating after one year in presidential history, the media, led by Fox News, is harping on what they claim is the public's disdain for Obama and his policies and the prediction of a Republican romp in the upcoming mid-term elections. 

But bearing in mind Mark Twain's observation that a lie gets half-way around the world before truth puts its boots on, the U.S. public deserves to know what the polling data actually says.  First, there were no polls like we have today prior to the Truman administration to tell us what a president’s approval ratings are.  Second, it is absolutely the norm for presidential approval ratings to drop significantly in the first year as is born out by the stats shown above.  Third, it is also absolutely predictable that the first mid-term elections for a president will yield bad results for his party. 

In August of 1982 Electoral Studies said this, “In 1982 reapportionment will help the Republicans but President Reagan's unpopularity will hurt them…”  What were the results?  In November 1982, with unemployment at 10.8 percent, Republicans lost 26 House seats in the mid-term elections.

”The similarities between the approval-rating paths of Obama and Reagan are actually quite striking, wrote Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin political scientist, in a recent post at the Web site Pollster.com. "Both replaced deeply unpopular predecessors," Franklin wrote. "Both enjoyed significant gains for their party in both houses of Congress. Both faced 'worst since the Depression' economic circumstances. And each in his own very different ways attempted to reshape government in the early months in office."  (Politifact.com 

While Obama might be heartened by the similarities with Reagan he surely hopes the similarities don’t continue into his second year. Reagan's approval rating at the end of his second year in office was 41 percent, with an average for that year of 44 percent.

What about the perceived lack of accomplishments?  With nearly all the focus on the health care reform debacle it’s easy to lose sight of what ‘s been happening with all the other items on Obama’s long list of agenda items in his first year, easily the most ambitious of any president in our lifetimes.

Here is a “short” but impressive list of things Obama has been able to check off his to-do list:

-           A “Cash for Clunkers” program whose success far exceeded expectations.

-           Signing into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act for Women.

-           Truly supporting our troops with increased benefits, better body armor, increased pay, improved housing, and improved conditions at military hospitals.

-           Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research.

-           Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children.

-           Ended the previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs and instead promote “in-sourcing” to bring jobs back.

-           Credit Card reform to protect consumers.

-           Lower drug costs for seniors; ended Medicare’s prohibition of negotiating for cheaper drugs.

-           Ended the awarding of no-bid defense contracts.

-           Allowed the FDA to begin regulating tobacco.

-           Secured the release of two Americans held in North Korean prisons.

-           Successful release of U.S. captain held by Somali pirates.

-           Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court.

-           A $2,500 tax credit to help offset the cost of college tuition.

-           Reversing the war on the environment begun by the Bush administration.  The Sierra Club calls Obama the “best environmental president ever”.

And evidence that this president truly “gets it”,

-           Returned money authorized for refurbishment of White House offices and private living quarters and paid for redecoration out of his own pocket.

(Sources: Robert P. Watson, PH.D. Lynn University ; Slate.com; Huffington Post; The NY Times.)