New Polls: Obama May Be Human After All

Despite solid overall approval ratings, recent polls show dwindling support for President Barack Obama’s focus on health care reform—and instead underscore the public’s concern for the snowballing budget deficit.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, released June 17, found that 58% of those surveyed believe that Congress should focus on keeping the budget deficit down, even if takes longer for the economy to recover. Nearly a quarter of Americans said that the most pressing economic issue facing the United States was the budget deficit, while only 11% responded that it was health care.

Similarly, a recent New York Timesspan>/CBS poll< found its respondents increasingly skeptical of the President’s economic policies. According to the New York Times, “a substantial majority of Americans say President Obama has not developed a strategy to deal with the budget deficit, ” The Times also pointed out that

A distinct gulf exists between Mr. Obama’s overall standing and how some of his key initiatives are viewed, with fewer than half of Americans saying they approve of how he has handled health care and the effort to save General Motors and Chrysler. A majority of people said his policies have had either no effect yet on improving the economy or had made it worse, underscoring how his political strength still rests on faith in his leadership rather than concrete results.

As well, both polls found that while Obama’s approval rating remains high, it shows signs of wilting: The WSJ/NBC poll recorded a five point drop, from 61-56%, from April. The Journal also found that the President’s approval rating among independent voters suffered a substantial drop since April, from almost 2-1 in favor to now 1-1.

These statistics suggest that public debt is, and will, continue to be this administration’s greatest political weakness. That said, unless Republicans get serious about reigning in spending right now, they will not be able to capitalize on this issue going forward. To credibly argue that the Obama administration is irresponsible for running up the deficits, the GOP will have to stop being the party of the supply sider and go back to being the party of the deficit hawk. “Read my lips: new taxes…..for everyone” will be politically painful in the short term, but Republican outrage over public spending is going to fall on deaf ears until the party backs up its words with actions. This country cannot afford to continue its accumulating debt. President Obama’s future spending plans are unequivocally and indisputably irresponsible, but voters won’t hold him accountable unless the opposition provides an alternative.

Responsibility… What’s our policy?