PrintApril 23, 2009
How to produce high approval ratings for Obama
Just read an AP report: the percentage of Americans that think the country is on the right track rose to 48% in March as compared to 40% in February. In light of the unemployment rising, the debacle in foreign affairs etc, I found it unlikely. So I looked into the details of the poll.
73% of the Democrats polled thought we were on the right track
17% of Independents
10% of Republicans
That made it even more suspicious as to how those numbers could result in a 48% overall right track vote.
So digging deeper, it turns out
36% of those polled were Democrats
18% Republican
26% Independent
18% None claimed
In the 2008 election the spread between Democrats and Republicans was 6.5 percentage points not 18 and independents made up 22% of the vote not 26%.
It appears that there have been similar distortions in the various polls measuring Obama's approval ratings.
