David Pleasant

President Obama’s job approval rating dropped to 50 percent in the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll. Since this is sync with other polls, albeit a minority, it cannot be viewed as an outlier.

It is normal for a president’s approval rating to drop to the 50’s level, but as Eric Kleefield notes, President Obama’s descent has been rapid. Furthermore, the descent is to be expected especially when tackling major issues such as health care. However, I am confident President Obama’s decision to throw progressives under the bus on almost every issue is a significant factor in his current polling.

If asked a straight up question of did I approve, I would answer no.

According to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, a majority of Americans say the war in Afghanistan is not worth fighting and are opposed to sending more troops to the war.

The new poll comes amid widespread speculation that the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, will request more troops for his stepped-up effort to root the Taliban from Afghan towns and villages. That is a position that gets the backing of 24 percent of those polled, while nearly twice as many, 45 percent, want to decrease the number of military forces there. (Most of the remainder say to keep the level about the same.)

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Among all adults, 51 percent now say the war is not worth fighting, up six points since last month and four points above the previous high, reached in February. Less than half, 47 percent, say the war is worth its costs. Those strongly opposed (41 percent) outweigh strong proponents (31 percent).

I wonder if the results would be different if there was not as much focus on health care reform.

I want to point out a few things in the latest New York Times/CBS poll (pdf).

This morning on Morning Joe, Joe Doucheborough Scarborough was ranting about how badly President Obama had taken a hit on health-care related polling results and that the American people were progressively focusing on the economy and increasingly less on health care.

He breathlessly bloviated that the only thing Americans were really concerned about was jobs, jobs, jobs and budget deficits. According to Mr. Scarborough, deficit concerns were overtaking health care concerns. He asserted the American people were finally aligning themselves with what he had been harping about for months: out of control, deficit spending by the President and Democrats in Congress. (This is what I recall. It appears MSNBC does not publish a transcript of Morning Joe. If someone has a transcript or applicable video, I will gladly reference it.)

Yes, that’s right. So we were told, the recent polls proved that America was now seeing and acquiescing to the infinite wisdom put forth over several months by Mr. Scarborough – the all powerful sage and Purveyor of Truth. Well Joe, it just ain’t so. As usual, he is lying to push his own agenda (his book and GOP talking points) .

Look at these numbers from the New York Times/CBS poll.

Question: What do you think is the most important problem facing the country today?

Health Care rose by 71 percent in one month and was the highest in that category in more than a year and a half. That says the President’s message is getting out there. Other polling results indicate the electorate may be confused about what they are being told, but that does not take away the fact that concerns about health care have gone up, substantially.

Concerns about the budget deficit remain virtually unchanged. The percentage of people that perceive the budget deficit as the top concern facing the nation is no different than it was almost a year and a half ago. Furthermore, and in stark contrast to Scarborough’s false assertions, the budget deficit is one of the American people’s least concerns.

Concerns about the economy have dropped, not increased, which has been a steady trend ever since President Obama’s inauguration. In January, the economy peaked at 49 percent and has steadily dropped to 36 percent in the latest poll.

While jobs are a significant concern and have been all year, there has been only minor change since the Obama administration put health care at the forefront (from a debate position, not necessarily the administration’s working focus) In my opinion, this is more a factor of the rising unemployment rate than it is a factor of health care being pushed.

If anything stands out to me in this poll, it is the fact that Americans barely have war on their radar and we are fighting wars in two different countries at a cost of more than $100 billion per year.