Public Supports Obama ... But Not So Much Republicans

Posted by Digby, Hullabaloo at 10:15 AM on February 9, 2009.

Chuck Todd asks:

With Obama's aggressive courtship of Republicans (meeting with them in private, having them over to the White House for cocktails, appointing three of them to his cabinet), did anyone think that just three Republicans (Collins, Snowe, Specter) out of 219 GOP senators and congressman would so far support the stimulus?

I thought there might be a few more, but basically I knew they would vote against it en masse. The conservative movement owns the GOP. Their leader Rush Limbaugh speaks for them and he wasn't lying when he said he wants Obama to fail.

On a brighter note, the public seems to be hanging in with Obama, which is very good news:

President Obama receives a 67% approval rating for his handling of the government’s efforts to pass an economic stimulus bill, compared to 31% for the Republicans in Congress. A majority of Americans (51%) agree that passing such a bill is critically important to improving the nation’s economy.

I would imagine this is because, unlike the Republicans, whose personal fortunes are all tied up in the economy failing, the rest of the country is quite anxious that the economy bounce back and they see Obama as being the best hope to lead that effort. And watching the Republicans acting like clowns, I have a feeling that impression is solidifying.

Tagged as: america, republicans, gop, obama, public, stimulus, approval

Digby is the proprietor of Hullabaloo.