Yesterday, as White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was questioned about polls showing President Obama continuing to drop in popularity, Gibbs responded:
I’m sure a 6-year-old with a crayon could do something not unlike that. I don’t put a lot of stake in, never have, in the EKG that is the daily Gallup trend.
In his response and follow up comments, Gibbs seems to suggest not only that a six year old is unable to control their crayons but also that anyone who puts any stock in polls is deemed to have the mental ability of a six year old.
First, having lived through the stages of dexterity improvement as it relates to color crayon control, I can attest that many six year olds are extremely capable of “staying within the lines” and even coloring a reasonably straight line, when asked.
Second, while I would agree with Mr. Gibbs that any one poll may not accurately reflect the mood of the polled, multiple polls will certainly show a direction and a significance of the concern level. Let’s look at an example.
Support for Placebocare is claimed by Mr. Gibbs, to have public support. To be sure, there was a time when the public did support Placebocare. However, as time has gone on, and the public finds out how damaging Placebocare will be to the economy, the quality of health care and their pocketbooks, public support has dropped to levels that should require a mercy killing.
Just today, three new polls came out showing a low and deteriorating support level for Placebocare:
QUINNIPIAC: “Voters Disapprove 52 – 38 Percent Of The Health Care Reform Proposal Under Consideration In Congress, And They Disapprove 56 – 38 Percent Of President Obama’s Handling Of Health Care, down from 53 – 41 percent in a November 19 survey by the independent Quinnipiac University.” (“Obama Approval Falls To New Low, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds,” Quinnipiac University, 12/9/09)
BLOOMBERG: “The poll finds significant opposition to using Medicarefor savings; 78 percent say they would oppose any cuts to the program.” (“Obama’s War Plan Gains Amid Doubts On Domestic Policy,” Bloomberg, 12/9/09)
PUBLIC POLICY POLLING: “Support For Obama On Health Care Has Hit Another New Low With Just 39% Of Voters Now Expressing Approval Of His Health Care Plans And 52% Opposed.” (“Obama’s December Standing,” Public Policy Polling, 12/9/09)
It is clear that there is no majority or even plurality of support for Placebocare. In fact, when you start asking people about specific provisions as Bloomberg did, support becomes almost nearly non existent.
If believing that Placebocare does not have the American public’s support makes me a six year old, what does that make someone who believes it does have support, like Mr. Gibbs?
