Obama fails to win independents in debt limit debate

Demfromct took a look at the latest Gallup data on the debt limit debate, and notes that Democrats liked it best:

There's no surprise. Obama expended a great deal of effort selling this piece of crap deal, and at least 58 percent of Democrats gave him the benefit of the doubt. But what strikes me most about those numbers is the data from independents.

The Obama-can-do-no-wrong camp argues that Obama couldn't focus on the supposedly narrow interest of the Democratic base because at 22 percent of the overall public, liberals can't single-handedly reelect Obama. Therefore, he has to appeal to the all-important independents for electoral reasons. That is, actually, not an unreasonable point. Obama DOES have to keep independents happy in order to win reelection. Can't argue with that.

But you also can't argue with this: if the goal was to impress and win over independents, then mission failed.

Independents sure as heck aren't impressed with the deal. Republicans obviously hate it. So the only ideological group to give majority support are those maligned liberals, but by just a sliver.

And the cost? This deal split the left, demoralized some of its most engaged activists, and saddled us with austerity at a time when the country desperately needs stimulus and jobs. All because of unsupported beliefs that independents are supposedly concerned about the deficit. Or like "grownups in the room." Or something.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/E9JxuREjNss/-Obama-fails-to-win-independents-in-debt-limit-debate

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