Barely a year after I was trashed on the pages of The Huffington Post, today marks one of those rare occasions when I felt inclined to read a portion of a Fred Goldring article, New Year’s Resolution 2011: Start Supporting President Obama, published on the ultra-liberal web site. Surprisingly, it took only a few moments of reading beyond the headline to conclude that Goldring had gotten something right.
The following accurate statement appeared as the first sentence of Goldring’s piece:
As we approach the end of President Obama’s second year in office, it seems that, despite his numerous major achievements, the President has thus far managed to disappoint just about everybody.
How do I know Goldring was right? Because the results of a new Harris Interactive poll released today prove it.
- At the end of his second year in office, just three in ten Americans (30%) give him positive ratings on the job he is doing on the economy while seven in ten (70%) give him negative ratings;
- When asked to compare their financial situation to last year, two in five Americans (42%) feel less secure now while one-third (36%) feel just as secure and one in five (19%) say they now feel more secure;
- One-quarter of Americans (26%) say they expect the economy to get worse in the coming year while three in ten (29%) expect it to get better and 45% say it will stay the same; and
- One-quarter of U.S. adults (25%) say they expect the job market to be better over the next six months, one in five (22%) say it will be worse and over half (54%) believe it will remain the same.
In addition to the findings shown above, I found a paragraph of the Harris news release interesting and, perhaps, a bit optimistic:
At the beginning of the year everyone always has the best intentions. Resolutions are made typically about health, diet and/or finances. But, as everyone knows, resolutions are also broken and if they last until the end of January, that’s a great thing. As the year goes on, it will be interesting to see if people are saving more, paying down their debt or cutting back on household spending.
Makes one wonder what President Barack Obama’s resolutions for 2011 might be.
Will he kick the smoking habit?
Will he stop blaming George W. Bush for everything?
Only time will tell.