Thursday, September 2, 2010

Obama Losing Viewers

A slow news cycle is death to bloggers and right now it’s slow. I heard that 51% of Ohioans would rather have Bush as President than Obama, but Bush has always been popular in the Rustbelt. California, Wisconsin and Washington are being called “battleground states” this election cycle, but Republicans always do well in those states. Some environmental whacko (inspired by Algore’s “Inconvenient Truther”) took some hostages, but there’s no obvious political motive. So what can we talk about? I know! How about this. . .

I’ve said before that you need to look at what people do, not what they say, to determine how they really feel. Right now, Obama’s poll numbers keep finding new lows. But that’s what people say, not what they do. In fact, it’s very easy to tell a pollster anything you want because there’s no level of commitment required at all. . . why yes, I would certainly buy a dog-food flavored toothpaste. ;-)

So how do we determine what people are really thinking? Well, we got a glimpse when Obama went to Martha’s Vineyard and we learned that Bush t-shirts were outselling Obama t-shirts. That tells us that there is an air of protest in the assembly, and it’s aimed at him -- this also dovetails with the Ohio poll. We can look at the fact that Democrats don’t want to be seen with him. That’s a pretty good indicator. We can look at the fact that Republicans are holding townhalls with little or no grief (even from the professional left, who always try to disrupt these things), but the Democrats won’t go near their constituents.

Old news huh?

Ok, we can look at the fact that the Democrats have gone from crowing about an easy victory in November to squealing about possibly losing the House to conceding the House as lost and now talking about losing the Senate -- and they're blaming Obama. We can look at CNN, which put up a list of the most vulnerable House incumbents, and only 14 of its top 100 are Republicans (and only 4 of those are in the top 50).

How about this: according to Nielsen, Obama’s prime time address on Iraq attracted only 29 million viewers. That’s about 9% of the population. I guess the other 91% had pressing engagements?

This number is also down 28% from his December 2009 Afghanistan speech. Taken as a measure of interest, that means he’s lost a quarter of the people he still attracted at Christmas, which was already down to 38 million from the 52 million who watched his acceptance of the Democratic nomination and his first inaugural address. All told, he’s lost close to 50% of his audience. . . kind of like how he went from 80% approval ratings to 40%.

And of those who did bother watching, FOX News outdrew MSNBC and CNN combined by 2.8 million to 2.3 million. In other words, his enemies were far more likely to watch the speech than his friends by a sizeable number. This speaks to the fact that the right is more engaged than the left, a fact born out by enthusiasm polls and significant differences in voter turnout in the primaries.

I also can’t help but notice that the media isn’t even trying to play up the Iraq story. Forget that Obama is lying about pulling out combat troops -- he’s simply renamed them -- this was still his biggest campaign promise; this was the one that vaulted him over Hillary Clinton and the loonsquad to become the Democratic nominee. You would think the media would play this up. But they aren’t. And the reason is simple, they don’t think the public cares (or believes him).

Falling viewership, slow merchandise sales, general lack of interest in the media and a creeping indifference in the fan base. . . sounds like this sitcom needs to be canceled?

26 comments:

Tennessee Jed said...

A telling sign in all this is that we had company Monday and Tuesday, he a traditional Democrat and she a liberal of the Oprah Watching variety. We happened to turn on the t.v. and "O" was giving his speech. I immediately got up to leave and he made appropriate comments about how bad "O" is. YES!!!

Unknown said...

Andrew: The Democrats are suffering from a great national malaise, and the Republicans and Independents are enjoying a great national determination.

Am I the only one who thought that Obama looked like an eleven-year old kid wearing a suit two sizes too big for him while he sat at his father's oversized desk while reading his own sixth-grade graduation speech?

Off in the wings, his speech coach was saying, "now Barry, remember to look into the camera, sit up straight, speak clearly, and keep your hands folded so you won't slip and pick your nose."

And who picked those drapes???????

Notawonk said...

old media is gasping for breath. bloggers started the revolution and now the big guns like breitbart form a new media.

folks are telling the msm what they want but their deaf ear is their death knoll.

transition is happening and i'm grateful for those in the trenches taking back the truth, inch by inch.

Tam said...

Lawhawk: I thought Dear Leader looked ridiculous, and I personally LOVED Netanyahu's response to his "challenge" to have the wisdom and courage to walk the road to peace..."I will not let terrorists block to road to peace, and that peace must be anchored in security." Hmm...one leader knows that peace comes from strength, and that appeasement and bowing only encourages tyranny and terror. Guess our little boy in chief could use some lessons from Israel.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, They turn on their leaders very quickly. As I've said before, it's a defense mechanism to keep they from having to admit their ideas failed.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, He hasn't looked professional for some time now. And since I'm not seeing any rave reviews of the speech, I suspect the media agrees with you.

AndrewPrice said...

Patti, Technology changes the world. . . always does.

I think the MSM is doomed because they lost the people's respect and the people decided to do it themselves. It's hard to put that kind of genie back in the bottle. And now that guys like Breitbart are invading their field (and are more savvy), their days are numbered.

AndrewPrice said...

Tam, I took the same meaning from what Netanyahu said -- we're grown ups playing a very grown up game of life and death and we don't have time to suffer fools. . . i.e. you Mr. Obama.

Unknown said...

Tam: As to Netanyahu, the old saying is that it's hard to soar with the eagles when you're surrounded by turkeys. With Obama and Abbas going "gobble, gobble" in the background, Netanyahu was the picture of strong statesmanlike leadership.

Andrew: Your comment above was extremely profound. Typical of leftists, they can't believe that their ideas could possibly be wrong, so it must be somebody's fault for betraying the cause. Poor little Barack is now becoming their target du jour.

The MSM would have shown the highlights of his speech. Unfortunately, there weren't any.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, It's years of observation of liberals going through the cycle -- find messiah, worship messiah, declare a new way never before seen by man, watch things go wrong, wonder if the world isn't truly ungovernable, blame messiah, turn on messiah, get out pitchforks for messiah, "hey look, a new messiah". . . repeat.

I've seen this loop happen over and over and over.

USArtguy said...

Slow news day?

So yesterday we read that instead of rounding up and deporting illegal aliens, the Fed sends Arizona 30 signs warning 'Americans' that they shouldn't travel through parts of 'America' because it isn't safe for Americans.

Now, today in Chi-Town, gangs are to have a news conference complaining they are 'being harassed' by cops.

Hey Nero... what's that tune you're playing on the fiddle?

Writer X said...

Bush t-shirts outselling Obama t-shirts in Martha's Vineyard?! The land of James Taylor and Carly Simon? I tried to watch the Obama speech but ended up turning it off after five minutes. It was like watching paint dry only not as lively.

CrispyRice said...

Ohhhhh, nice facepalm picture, Andrew!

AndrewPrice said...

USArtguy, I stand by my statement! and forget the fiddle, pass the bango! ;-)

Don't forget that Obama reported Arizona to the UN and sent 30 troops to the border, when they've been asked for 3000. Net neutrality when down in flames, as did the EPA's attempts to ban lead bullets.

Yep, slow news period!

AndrewPrice said...

Writer X, In all honesty, I never tried. I watched "Fletch." It was much better. :-)

Yep, in liberal, liberal, elitist Martha's Vineyard, Bush t-shirts are outselling Obama t-shirts. What does that tell you!

AndrewPrice said...

Cripy, Yep! Perhaps you are referring to this...

The Facepalm

CrispyRice said...

Those are the ones, Andrew, LOL!

When the stupidity is just too much...

AndrewPrice said...

Crispy, Sounds like a great motto for life!

BevfromNYC said...

Chris "Tingle up my leg" Matthews blasted Obama for reading off a teleprompter. "He should have dumped the 'damn teleprompter' and spoken from his heart" Or something to that effect.

And crickets were heard on HuffPo...BUT Arianne Huffington wrote a great short piece on the new decor in the Oval Office -

"The Audacity of Taupe"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/the-audacity-of-taupe_b_703628.html

AndrewPrice said...

I don't think they really want him speaking from the heart. Those moments get pretty Biden-like. ;-)

The audacity of taupe, I love it! The pictures I've seen of the redecoration tell me that he's got no taste.

BevfromNYC said...

I have to ask...Just which protected class were they trying to save by taking the lead out of bullets? Lead out paint - check, lead out of water- check, but lead out of bullets?

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Criminals and tyrants.

StanH said...

I had to do a little traveling around town today, and was coming up I-85 North and at this point coming into the city around a six, seven lane expressway. There began to develop a mini traffic jam, and there was a dweeb in a roller skate car and on the left rear bumper was a Kerry/Edwards sticker on the right Barry/Biden. This little bastard was in the middle lane driving 55, and everyone was passing him like he was sitting still, sneering at him, hand signals, for me it was an interesting juxtaposition. Barry’s butt boy meets the business class, it was funny.

AndrewPrice said...

Stan, They have become obnoxious in all things haven't they? From the cars they drive to the way they vote to the things they whine about. At least he wasn't in the left lane, they usual are.

rlaWTX said...

[1] In other words, his enemies were far more likely to watch the speech than his friends by a sizeable number.

[2] Hillary Clinton and the loonsquad

Love it!!!

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, I call them like I see them!

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