The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Polls Show Obama in Dead Heat With Ron Paul...and George W. Bush

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The Spectacle Blog

Polls Show Obama in Dead Heat With Ron Paul...and George W. Bush

By Philip Klein on 4.14.10 @ 11:25AM

A few interesting polls out this morning show Ron Paul and George W. Bush within the margin of error against President Obama in hypothetical matchups. The first matchup is unlikely to happen, and the second one can't, but both polls underscore the declining political fortunes of Obama.

Rasmussen finds Obama leading Paul by an insignificant 42 percent to 41 percent margin. While Obama is more popular among Democrats than Paul is among Republicans, Paul leads among unaaffiliated voters by 19 points.

Meanwhile, Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm, finds that the public is now pretty evenly divided between Obama and the man whose unpopularity made his rise possible. The president leads his predecessor Bush by a narrow 48 percent to 46 percent. In this case, it's more about voters returning to the typical ideological lines -- with Republicans and conservative independents who became disenchanted with Bush during his second term supporting him over Obama.

PPP concludes:

These numbers suggest some peril for Democrats in making Bush a focus of their messaging this fall. A lot of folks who contributed to the former President's low level of popularity now like Obama even less. Figuring out a way to make voters change their minds about the current President would be a much more effective strategy for Democrats than continuing to try to score points off the former one.

View all comments (23) | Leave a comment

JohnD| 4.14.10 @ 12:08PM

Other interesting items in the poll:

Obama: 46%
Satan: 47%
Undecided: 7%

Obama: 44%
Tiger Woods: 49%
Undecided: 7%

Obama: 44%
Sack of manure: 43%
Undecided: 23%

Obama: 45%
Anyone not named Obama: 46%
Undecided: 9%

JohnD| 4.14.10 @ 12:10PM

I think the undecided count in Obama vs. A Sack of manure is a typo.

Flee| 4.14.10 @ 3:19PM

At least the sack of manure can help you grow something other than DC.

Rhine| 4.14.10 @ 1:01PM

There was a poll out yesterday on this very subject, and you're actually quite wrong. Everyone besides Bush and Paul trailed Obama by 8-13 points.

JohnD| 4.14.10 @ 1:25PM

In the poll above he beats "Sack of Manure" by a point, but it is within the margin of error.

iamse7en| 4.14.10 @ 12:09PM

The Revolution begins! Go Ron Paul!

Sean| 4.14.10 @ 12:49PM

Ron Paul 2012 there maybe hope for America after all.

Jamie| 4.14.10 @ 2:03PM

Dream on, Sean, it'll never happen.

Sorry--sort of.

Carl Spangler| 4.14.10 @ 1:01PM

You mistaken if you believe the revolution will be headed up by either a Republican or Democrat. Both those parties are but sub-branches of the one-party sytem that runs this country...The Wealthy. Consequently, like all revolutions, there won't be a national election to get it started. Everything else is in place, though, so don't despair. Their government is on the verge of bankruptcy as is the middle class they've squeezed dry trying to keep it going. Once there is no money for even the entitlement programs it will just take one of them saying "let them eat cake" to get things going.

Ken (Old Texican)| 4.14.10 @ 1:51PM

Carl,
You are such an ass. We will prove it to you in November...or it is the equivalent of 1860 with productive people being enslaved.

Many of us object to being enslaved.
Choose sides fairly soon.

Nobama| 4.14.10 @ 1:58PM

Carl's talking about RINOs and democrats--pretty much the same thing.

Our only hope is REPUBLICAN CONSERVATISM straight up.

Dar| 4.14.10 @ 1:58PM

I'm OK with Paul running, if that is where he can best serve liberty.

Paul is a good man, wise and knowledgeable. Most supporters seem to be good people, too, and have some good ideas. Some seem to be jerks and chant "Ron Paul" at the wrong time. I chock it up to enthusiasm, but in a serious campaign supporters might take on a Paulian cutesy.

In any case, he will have my vote in 2012 if he runs.

Jamie| 4.14.10 @ 2:05PM

Dar, see my comment to Sean above.

bgodley| 4.14.10 @ 3:04PM

Jamie,

Paul, or more importantly his ideas, are taking over the GOP and winning the independents. Your crystal ball is a little fuzzy.

He is way more recognized now that Jin, Pawl, and others and gets WAY more air, radio time than any of them including Mitt.

He is becoming way too powerful.

Yes, good ideas some times take longer to soak in, but they are becoming a necessity now and most people, besides you, know it.

Margie| 4.14.10 @ 4:49PM

The media loves Ron Paul. It is because he NOT well liked by conservatives. The reason is is that he blames America for terrorism. He may have conservative views on financial matters, but he is an anti-Israel, non-interventionist. Because he is thus minded, he will never win the Presidency of the United States.
He isn't taking over anything.

spinnikerca| 4.14.10 @ 2:33PM

However, when Rasmussen recently polled head to head matches with Romney, Palin, Huckabee, etc on the one hand and Obama on the other, none came within 8% of Obama. This poll about Ron Paul isn't just about Obama's popularity, but about overall chances of various GOP frontrunners, when polled outside of the 'party'.

Carl Spangler| 4.14.10 @ 2:49PM

There are no sides to choose from. That fact, along with the economic collapse of the system is what gives rise to revolution. Nobody votes for a revolution. The desperate ruling class, wealthier than ever but its wealth being concentrated in too few, can't keep the exploited masses under control. 1860? Think 1789 or 1917.

newdome| 4.14.10 @ 3:00PM

Did they also by any chance poll the popularity of Obama viz-a-vis Gore or Carter. How about Reagan or Ike. The uselessness of these kinds of information is outstanding to me. Who pays for these crap! Why don't these idiots poll on numbers that are actually useful for purpose of analytics. Rather than these hypothetical ridiculeousness that are of little use for any purpose except to fuel partisan taunting.

Margie| 4.14.10 @ 3:15PM

They still can't get over GW, can they? LOL!

Many| 4.14.10 @ 9:07PM

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Joseph Zrnchik| 4.14.10 @ 10:59PM

Want to find out the truth about Ron Paul?

Go to www.ronpaullibrary.org
or
www.mises.org

Ray| 4.15.10 @ 4:34AM

Dr. Ron Paul said recently that Obama is not a socialist, but instead is a corporatist. Dr. Paul is correct in saying that Obama is a corporatist & the following is but the tip of the iceberg in showing this:

Jane Hamsher has an article at Huffington Post entitled "The Truth About The Health Care Bill" that exposes how Obamacare is a sell-out to the insurance and pharma corporations.

The Senate bill (which the House of Reps passed and Obama signed) is nearly identical to the one written by AHIP, the insurance company trade association, in 2009. The original Senate Finance Committee bill was authored by a former Wellpoint vice president. ObamaCare will give increased power to Big Pharma to block generic versions of expensive biotech drugs from coming to market and will give them increased power to block cheap prescription drug reimports. Much more in Hamsher's article that exposes ObamaCare as being a sell-out to the insurance & pharma corporations.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....06026.html

Obama met with representatives from the insurance and pharma corporations, sold out to them, then they stopped running their attack ads against him. After that, Obama went out and demonized the insurance companies to provide political cover for himself and fellow Democrats who also sold out.

Margie| 4.15.10 @ 8:53PM

Obama is a Marxist of the Saul Alinsky kind, who is his idol. Or one of them. Ron Paul is a nut job who believes terrorism is the fault of the United States. That makes him a liar and a loony toon.