Americans viewed Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign more negatively than his 2008 campaign, according to a Pew Research poll conducted immediately after the election.
Respondents gave Obama a grade of C+ for 2012, as opposed to B+ in 2008. Mitt Romney was given a C for his campaign, lower than the C+ of John McCain in 2008.
The study claimed:
The 2012 presidential campaign was a frustrating experience for many voters, who say the campaign was more negative than usual and had less discussion of issues than in most previous campaigns. Both Obama and Romney get mixed grades for the job they did reaching out to voters, as do campaign consultants, the press and pollsters. On most measures, voters’ views of campaign 2012 fall short of the election four years ago.
The greatest problem voters had was the candidates’ avoidance of talking about important issues like the economy and foreign policy; 51% thought the candidates avoided the issues in 2012; 34% thought so in 2008.
The voters polled also were concerned about the lack of bipartisanship in Washington, DC. Pew reported:
Only about half (46%) of Republicans want GOP leaders to work with Obama to get things done, while about as many (50%) say they should stand up to Obama, even if less gets done. The message to Obama from Democrats is only somewhat more conciliatory – 54% want the president to try to work with Republicans, but 42% do not.
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