Oy. Where to begin.
(UPDATE - And yes, I know, that's an oxymoron..thanks guys)
I go to Redstate to see generally how the Specter defection is going over, and the front page is this:
Why is Barack Obama So Unpopular?
According to Gallup’s April survey, Americans have a lower approval of Mr. Obama at this point than all but one president since Gallup began tracking this in 1969. The only new president less popular was Bill Clinton, who got off to a notoriously bad start after trying to force homosexuals on the military and a federal raid in Waco, Texas, that killed 86. Mr. Obama’s current approval rating of 56 percent is only one tick higher than the 55-percent approval Mr. Clinton had during those crises...
This is out of a Washington Times editorial, 'Barack's in the Basement'.
Leaving aside that they are comparing Clinton's low points during crises later in Clinton's term to Obama's 100 day mark with crises looming that were not his doing, what to think of these numbers?
Reasonably, I then head over to Gallup, to see what they say about it.
Follow me past the flip...
So where did the Times get that number? Must be from here:
President Obama begins the second 100 days of his presidency with 56% of Americans believing he has done an excellent or good job thus far, and only 20% saying he has done a poor or terrible job. According to the new USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted April 20-21, about a quarter of Americans are on the fence, saying his performance has been "just okay."
Let me get this straight. 56% say he has done an excellent or good job, 25% say he's done ok. 20% disapprove.
Isn't that 80% approval of his first 100 days, at least by this measure? I didn't realize 'ok' meant anything but approval.
Elsewhere in the same article at Gallup:
These summary evaluations of Obama's presidency provide a more detailed picture of public reaction to the new president than Gallup's standard job approval rating. Gallup Poll Daily tracking from April 20-22 finds 65% of Americans saying they "approve" of the job Obama is doing as president; 29% disapprove. Thus, on both measures, Americans' general assessment is quite positive, by a better than 2-to-1 margin.
The new poll also finds that Americans generally got what they expected in the Obama presidency. More than 6 in 10 -- 62% -- say Obama has thus far done about as they expected as president, overall. Among the rest, more indicate he has exceeded their expectations than fallen short, 24% vs. 13%.
So 62% say he has done about as expected, 24% say he exceeded their expectations. 65% literally 'approve' of the job Obama is doing. Then there's the money quote for me:
This evaluation of Obama is more favorable than a similar reading on former President Bill Clinton after his first 100 days in office, in April 1993. While a larger majority in that poll said Clinton had done about as they expected as president than say this for Obama, only 12% said he had done a better job (compared with Obama's 24%).
A separate article at Gallup even says that..
President Barack Obama averages a 63% approval rating for his first quarter in office -- the highest since President Jimmy Carter averaged 69% in 1977.
Of course, Redstaters wouldn't want to hear that last fact. Not that they let facts trouble them anyway.
Only at the Times (and Redstate) can a number be plucked out of a poll and stated to mean something it does not, then a premise be explained off of a false fact.
(I know, I just should never go to Redstate. Normally I don't....)