Obama's Long, Hot Summer

Now that Labor Day is behind us, the real political season begins for the race to the Presidency. But the summer season has not been kind to President Obama... but actually it wasn't summer's fault, and it wasn't even George Bush's fault... the fault falls squarely on the shoulders of President Obama himself. His failure to face the reality is taking its toll and his once stratospheric popularity is now at ground level... and he is digging himself a hole that he won't be able to get out of if he doesn't make a 180 degree turn in policy. (I'm not holding my breath!)

Rick Wiley the RNC Political Director sent out a memorandum today that illustrates the reality on the ground regarding the President's decline in popularity in critical states that will help determine who will be the next President. Read below, or click the link.

MEMORANDUM
To: Interested Parties
From: Rick Wiley, RNC Political Director
Date: 9/7/11
RE: A Long, Hot Summer

It was a long, hot summer for President Obama, indeed.
Consumer confidence at its lowest point since 2009; a downgrade to the country’s credit rating; volatile markets; zero job growth in August... more than enough reasons to need a vacation, right? After the President’s poorly-received, taxpayer-funded, campaign bus tour through the Midwest, the heat on President Obama was so great that Martha’s Vineyard must have been a tempting destination. (According to a recent survey by Rasmussen Reports, Obama was one of only a third of Americans who took a vacation at all this summer.) Now that the summer is all but over, it might be helpful to point out to the Obama campaign the damage another few months of failed leadership has inflicted on his approval ratings.

Nationally, according to Gallup’s weekly tracking, Obama ended August with only 40% approving of the job he is doing – matching the lowest weekly approval of his Presidency. His job approval among Hispanics, younger voters (age 18-29), and women also matched their lowest levels of his Presidency, and barely a third (35%) of Independents give him a passing grade. Obama’s +8 approval margin at the end of May (50% approve, 42% disapprove) has turned into a -13 disapproval rate at the end of August (40% approve, 53% disapprove) resulting in a slide of 21 points.

The picture is just as bleak in critical presidential battleground states where President Obama’s approval ratings were already in dangerous territory before the summer, and have seen similar slides since then.

 In Michigan, between May 11th and August 16th, Obama’s approval rating slid 20 points from a -1 margin in May to a -21 margin in August.

 In Florida, the President’s approval rating slid 15 points from +8 in May to -7 in August.

 In North Carolina, the President’s approval rating slid 13 points from +5 in May to -8 in mid-July.

 In Pennsylvania, the President’s approval rating slid 11 points from even in May to -11 at the end of July.

 In Ohio, the President’s approval rating slid 8 points between May and July, falling from +4 to -4.

To make matters worse, yesterday Politico reported only 26% of voters in their most recent Battleground Poll said they would “definitely” vote for Obama next year. If the Obama campaign isn’t careful, this long hot summer could turn into a long cold winter. Fortunately, there will be plenty of warm places for the President to take vacations when that time comes.

http://www.gop.com/index.php/S=63a53c4b706338949e13f8dc0cdf7c32/political/comments/a_long_hot_summer/