Obama Approval Rating At New Lows….
Rasmussen daily tracking polls show that President Obama’s presidential approval ratings hit -11. The peak was at +30 on the 2nd day he took office and has been declining ever since. As the NYT David Brooks writes, “All presidents fall from their honeymoon highs, but in the history of polling, no newly elected American president has fallen this far this fast.”
This further perils his ability to get a health care bill passed in the fall and certainly means his fixation on public option will be in jeopardy. If he can’t compromise on the public option, he runs the risk of what happened to Bush on social security. Bush wanted private accounts and alienated key Senators by not compromising.
Read the two NYT op-eds from this Sunday on how Reagan’s tax reform of 1986 is an excellent paradigm for how to successfully bring about health care reform. Both Hubbard and Bradley write on the topic from their experiences with the Bush White House and the Reagan White House.
As an indication of what’s coming, the Senate Finance committee held 130 meetings over the bill in the lead up to getting it passed. It took time, but it got done.
I would expect something similar to happen with health care: more time, more thoughtful consideration of the outcome, and more likelihood of it getting passed.
Tags: health care, obama, poll ratings, Reagan, tax reform