There are questions in the world that when first heard, you would assume have a specific answer. However, when you contemplate them a bit, you realize that there is probably no one specific answer but a range of answers that are dependent upon the variables of the specific situation. Examples of this type of question would be:
– If a man talks in the woods, with no women around, will he still be wrong?
or
– How many licks does it take to get to the middle of a Tootsie Pop?
Here is another question to add to the list:
How many leaks can a dam tolerate before it bursts?
Quinnipiac has released its latest polling. They’ve polled on a variety of issues including opinions on health care (majority still don’t want it especially if they have to pay for it) and opinions on the President’s handling of different issues. The poll also gives its update on overall favorable/unfavorable perspectives on President Obama.
Overall, Quinnipiac has President Obama with a slightly favorable rating 46% to 44% unfavorable. That’s the good news. The bad news for him is in every other demographic break down within the poll.
- Men disapprove 50%/42%
- Whites disapprove 51%/38%
- Independents disapprove 51%/37%
- All age groups over 35 years disapprove by at least 5%
- All income of $50K or greater disapprove
- If you don’t have a college degree, you disapprove
- The only religious affiliation that supports Obama is Jewish
Based on this, the only people who are reliable supporters of President Obama would be:
- females
- Who are “of color”
- have family income of less than $50K
- area Jewish
- are college graduates
- are under 35 yrs old
- and of course, are liberal
Let’s see….there are about 227 million voting age people in the US. 34 million are women between the ages of 18 and 34. Approximately 30% of the US population is non white so that would suggest 10 million women between 18 and 34 might be non white. Finally, only 2.2% of the US population is Jewish. That would suggest only 220,000 people are firmly in the camp for Obama?
OK, there are a few holes in my number logic but you get the point. The fact is that there are few if any, categories of voters who are solidly behind Barack Obama. In fact, every poll that comes out show yet another leak in the stalwart dam that voted Obama into office.
Dams are interesting things. They have great strength and are able to hold back great forces. Many of them actually have leaks that are not fatal. However, every dam, even the largest, have a point at which some number of small leaks will finally cause its demise, no matter how well built. Barack Obama’s dam has a bunch of leaks. The outstanding question is; how many leaks before it’s fatal?
