As Obama’s Image Crumbles
June 24, 2009
The honeymoon for President Obama is over. A new Rasmussen poll shows that while the president’s personal popularity remains high, more people are beginning to question his policies.
There are growing questions about the results of the so-called stimulus packages as the jobless pass 10 percent. Putting the blame on the Bush administration won’t work much longer as the public sees the record spending and debt practiced by this administration.
Then there is health care. Polls show most people are wary of government choosing doctors, deciding who gets treatment and who doesn’t. Make no mistake – if government calls the shots, health care will be rationed and denied to those a bureaucrat believes is no longer worth healing.
There is growing doubt about the president’s ability to respond to foreign challenges, including Iran and the challenge from North Korea.
All new presidents experience a drop in approval, but this one has little to fall back on because his popularity has been largely about image, not substance.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
Originally published June 24, 2009.
