Where in (North) America does President Obama still have 70% approval rating?
Apr 29th, 2010 | By Counterweights Editors | Category: In Brief
President Obama walks on tarmac with Governor General Jean, on arriving in Ottawa for “first official foreign trip” since taking office, February 19, 2009.
Some will view today’s EKOS poll on Canadian federal politics, for the CBC, as just further evidence that a snap spring election in the true north remains somewhat less than probable – even if Conservative minority Prime Minister Stephen Harper is still “refusing to cower before the new clout of his parliamentary [majority] opposition.”
(In round numbers the cross-Canada results are: Conservatives 32%, Liberals 27%, New Democrats 18%, Greens 11%, and Bloc Quebecois 10%. I.e., even with Mr. Harper’s lack of a traditional Canadian “compromise chromosome,” an election any time soon could hurt his party almost as much as the Ignatieff Liberals.)
From a less parochial perspective, the most intriguing results in the latest EKOS poll may be the responses it reports to the question “Do you approve or disapprove of the way __________ is handling his job?”
Here we still find, almost a year and a half after the 2008 presidential election south of the still more or less undefended border: Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff – 20% approve; Conservative leader Stephen Harper – 33% approve; New Democrat leader Jack Layton – 43% approve; US President Barack Obama – 70% approve!
Those who remain impressed by the latest Harperite ideological assaults on the legitimacy of all EKOS polls for the CBC (as opposed to the CBC commentaries of Mr. Harper’s former communications director, Kory Teneycke) may also want to consult: “CBC hits back at Tories as latest poll shows ‘stasis‘” ; and “A land of bias from sea to shining sea … If you’re a centrist, you can well be accused of having a Liberal tilt.” (Note too that the latest EKOS poll results are broadly similar to those reported by the latest Harris-Decima poll – except that EKOS is still showing somewhat better Conservative and worse NDP numbers.)
President Kennedy (left), Texas Governor John Connally, and Jacqueline Kennedy, minutes before the president was shot, Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Dallas Morning News/KERA-TV.
Meanwhile, today’s Dallas Morning News is reporting: “Arraignment ahead for Dallas man accused of Craigslist death threat against Obama.” On March 21, 2010 the 43-year-old Brian Dean Miller posted this message on Craigslist’s Dallas website: “People, the time has come for revolution … It is time for Obama to die. I am dedicating my life to the death of Obama and every employee of the federal government … I promised … if the health care reform bill passed I would become a terrorist. Today I become a terrorist.” Up here in the last best wilderness we can only wonder: what would Mr. Miller do if he ever moved to Canada?
