A Monmouth University poll released late last week was notable for the fact that, like many other polls, it showed President Obama upside down on job approval with registered voters–41% approve to 54% disapprove. A closer look, though, reveals the poll’s most startling find: Obama has lost credibility with the middle class. When asked if Obama is sincere about refocusing his presidency on the middle class, only 46% believe it, while a full 50% do not.
Independents are more skeptical than overall voters. A full 54% don’t believe the president, while only 42% do.
Looking back at his presidency, only 26% of those polled believe the middle class have benefited from Obama’s policies, while 46% believe he hasn’t done anything at all to help them. The middle class rank at the bottom of this poll, below Wall Street bankers, wealthy families, health insurance companies, and poor families.
When you look at Barack Obama’s policies and priorities, it is not hard to guess why voters feel this way.
As a presidential candidate in 2008, Obama promised to fix the economy. But while the media continues to champion the idea that we are in some sort of economic recovery, five years into the Obama administration, the GDP is still on life support, 90% of the jobs created under Obama are part-time, and wages are either stagnant or falling.
People also understand that Wall Street is getting richer while they and their families are at best standing still. As the Fed continues to pump stimulus and keep interest rates low, Wall Street hits record highs. But there are still not enough jobs to keep up with population growth, and those low interest rates play hell on anyone trying to eke out a living on fixed retirement savings.
Obama’s priorities also do not match his rhetoric. When he first came into office, instead of focusing on private sector economic growth, Obama instead focused government growth by passing a boondoggle stimulus that cost over $800 billion and mostly benefited the president’s cronies and supporters. Then Obama spent most of his remaining political capital passing ObamaCare, a program that only grows more unpopular because people instinctively understand that its mandates are killing the very jobs that the middle class so desperately needs.
From there, Obama has focused on everything but the middle class. His entire presidency is remembered for divisive social issues that polls show most people do not consider a priority: gun control, birth control, gay marriage, and Al Sharpton’s latest race hoax.
Obama’s latest pivot to the economy and middle class (his twelfth, or so) was met with snickers even from his biggest fans: the mainstream media.
After five years, there is very good reason for the middle class to believe Obama does not care about them: His record and priorities prove he does not.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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