In These New Times

Sep 13 2009

Alison Kilkeny

True/slant

Something missing from this article is the internet success of the  Alex Jones documentary

https://inthesenewtimes.com/2009/03/18/the-obama-deception-151-mins/

The incorrigible “liberal media” has been practically marinating in its own saliva as it obsessively tracks the decline of Obama’s popularity. The declarations from corporate desk jockeys, who appear to get a sexual thrill from declaring Obama’s “wax wings” have melted and the President is currently plummeting toward earth, are probably premature. A little over half of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance, according to Rasmussen. That represents a one point improvement since his Wednesday night speech and is the President’s best rating in three weeks.

However, one does have to acknowledge that there has been a slow, gradual decline in Obama’s popularity over the past eight months. Though it’s exaggerated immensely by Comrade Krauthammer, an agent of the liberal media, the descent is definitely there as demonstrated by the latest Gallup poll:

In addition to the hasty DOA declarations, the media is also misdiagnosing the cause of the President’s mild slump. Much air time is devoted to the hissy fit-throwing Republicans like Joe Wilson, and the avalanche of concessions made by Democrats in the spirit of securing the votes of Republicans, who aren’t going to vote for the final bill anyway. Meanwhile, the media consistently pretends as though Democrats, Independents, and Progressives happily continue to support the President even as he abandons the beloved public option.

The only people unhappy with Obama right now, we’re told, are the old, white men and women who religiously watch Glenn Beck and scream about Socialism, ACORN, and Hitler. If the media isn’t citing Conservatives as the cause for Obama’s declining numbers, they blame Obama’s word choices. Even the most loyal liberals like the New York Times’s normally spot-on Frank Rich seem to be under the impression that Obama just isn’t explaining healthcare reform clearly enough. “Even now I’m not convinced that most Americans know what a ‘public option’ really means or what Obama’s precise position on it is,” he writes.

The problem may be that some voters know Obama’s position all too wellbecause the President has waffled between lukewarm support of the public option, and backpedaling the hell away from it as quickly as he can. Even if Rich is partially right that Obama just hasn’t found the magical word combination to explain his stance, few in the media acknowledge that Obama may be losing ground because he’s seriously pissing off public option supporters. Believe it or not, it is possible for someone to say they disapprove of Obama’s performance on reform, and for that person to be a Progressive, and not a “Don’t Tread On Me” t-shirt wearing gun nut.

Not only is the public option still extremely popular among Americans, including a public option in the final healthcare bill will almost surely help Obama’s popularity skyrocket again. A recent poll conducted for Americans United for Change by the respected firm of Anzelone and Liszt shows that 62% of likely 2010 voters would be more inclined to support President Obama’s healthcare reform plan if it included a public option that gave people a choice between private insurance plans and a public health insurance plan.

So while the celebration reports of Obama’s imminent demise are most certainly premature, the media is managing to outdo itself by not only being hyperbolic, but also dishonest when it implies dissenters are universally Conservatives. This implication isn’t always overt, but by failing to emphasize that millions of liberals and Independents who are also disillusioned with the amazing shrinking public option, and Obama’s lackluster support for it, the media paints a less than nuanced picture of the ongoing reform debate.