Public Policy Polling: Obama loses to Romney, Huckabee, Gingrich and ties Palin for 2012

Let me begin by making two important points. First, any 2012 match up at this point is pretty much meaningless. Two years in politics might as well be two millennia. Anything can happen between now and November 2012. Tom Jensen from Public Policy Polling states this case perfectly: 

Obviously 2012 is a long ways off and the immediate relevance of these numbers is limited. It's possible we'll look back on polls like this 28 months from now after Obama's been reelected and laugh. But it's also possible that we'll look back on the summer of 2010 after he's been defeated and see it as the time when his prospects for reelection really took a turn for the worse. For now there's really no way to tell. 

The second point that needs to be made is that Public Policy Polling are not a conservative leaning pollsters, quite the opposite. Ed Morrissey from Hot Air explains the leanings behind this poll. 

In case one wonders whether PPP’s sample is to blame, the partisan split favors Democrats by five points, 39/34.  That’s probably overstating the actual size of the gap and the percentage of Democrats in the general population, which means that the independents got short shrift as well.  Also note that this poll surveyedregistered voters, not likely voters — a sampling technique that would tend to favor Democrats and Obama a little more. 

Keep Morrissey’s words in mind as you read through the results below.

With his approval numbers hitting new lows it’s no surprise that Barack Obama’s numbers in our monthly look ahead to the 2012 Presidential race are their worst ever this month. He trails Mitt Romney 46-43, Mike Huckabee 47-45, Newt Gingrich 46-45, and is even tied with Sarah Palin at 46. The only person tested he leads is Jan Brewer, who doesn’t have particularly high name recognition on the national level at this point.

It’s not that any of the Republican candidates are particularly well liked. Only Huckabee has positive favorability numbers at 37/28. Romney’s at 32/33, Gingrich at 32/42, Palin at 37/52, and Brewer at 17/20. But with a majority of Americans now disapproving of Obama it’s no surprise that a large chunk of them would replace him as President if they had that choice today.

There are two things driving these strong poll numbers for the Republican candidates. The first is a lead with independents in every match up. Romney leads 48-35 with them, Gingrich is up 50-39, Huckabee has a 46-40 advantage, Palin’s up 47-42, and even Brewer has a 38-37 edge.

What is most interesting here is the Obama/ Palin tie. This is a left leaning poll and Obama cannot best the left’s worst nightmare Sarah Palin. A few of you regular readers worry that Palin is damaged goods and could never win in 2012. Well, this poll makes clear that Obama is also damaged goods and Palin has a fair chance of winning. The key to the Obama/ Palin match up is who can repair their image the fastest. Looking at the two over the last 18 months, I would have to give Palin the nod. She went from being trapped under an avalanche of frivolous lawsuits as governor to a national champion for conservative views. Obama on the other hand has failed miserably to live up to all the election hype.

As I stated in the opening of this post, two years is a lifetime in politics anything can happen.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Public Policy Polling

Via: Hot Air

Obama to Egyptian Foreign Minister: I am a Muslim

Remember this little slip of the tongue by Obama?

It looks like it may have been more than just a simple slip of the tongue.

Pam Geller at Atlas Shrugs: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said he had a one-on-one meeting with Obama, in which President Obama told him that he was still a Muslim, the son of a Muslim father, the stepson of Muslim stepfather, that his half brothers in Kenya are Muslims, and that he was sympathetic towards the Muslim agenda.

Finally, during the week of 14-18th of January 2010, just on the eve of my winter tour to the US, Rachel picked up a Nile TV broadcast in which Egyptian Foreign Minister Abul Gheit said on the "Round Table Show" that he had had a one on one meeting with Obama who swore to him that he was a Moslem, the son of a Moslem father and step-son of Moslem step-father, that his half-brothers in Kenya were Moslems, and that he was loyal to the Moslem agenda. He asked that the Moslem world show patience. Obama promised that once he overcame some domestic American problems (Healthcare), that he would show the Moslem world what he would do with Israel. (more here)

This is according to Israel Today here. Here is the passage from the May 2010 issue of "Israel Today." It is on page 3 in an article titled "Obama, a 'Strategic Catastrophe,'" by Aviel Schneider:

The feeling among the Israeli public is that Obama is appeasing the Muslim world at the expense of Israel. “The American President told me in confidence that he is a Muslim,” said Egyptian Foreign MinisterAhmed Aboul Gheit on Nile TV. 

That could explain why Obama has instructed that the term “Islamic extremism” no longer be used in official government documents and statements. Furthermore, the US is now accusing Israel of harming American interests in the Middle East. General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, said Israel’s intransigence on resolving the conflict with the Palestinians is endangering US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even the US Congress considers Obama’s behavior toward Netanyahu humiliating. Three-quarters of the House of Representatives, 337 of 435 members, signed a bipartisan letter to Clinton expressing “deep concern over recent tension” between the two countries, and demanding that it be smoothed over quickly and in private.

“Obama is a real problem for Israel,” a senior official told told Yediot. “He is Israel’s biggest strategic catastrophe.” The newspaper also quoted another official who believes that for the first time Washington has switched sides. “The Obama White House is putting pressure only on Israel but does not expect anything from the Palestinians,” he said. “These American demands are unacceptable.” 

The Birthers all think that Obama is hiding his actual birth certificate because it will show he is foreign born. I think the reason is because it would clearly state that his father was a Muslim. During the election of 2008, having his father be a confirm Muslim would have been just as bad as Obama saying he himself was a Muslim.

Since our press has decided that they will not look into Obama’s history with any detail, we are all left wondering if this statement is just Obama sucking up to the Islamic world again or if he is hiding a Presidential Prayer Rug somewhere in the White House.

Given this administration’s shoddy treatment of Israel, this statement is sure to raise more than just a few eyebrows. Click over to Atlas Shrugs and read the long detail analysis by Pam Geller.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Atlas Shrugs