Even as President Obama’s poll numbers hover around 40 percent, senior campaign strategist David Axelrod remains adamant that the president maintains strong standing with the public — particularly when compared to Republicans.
“Members of the media have focused on the president’s approval ratings as if they existed in a black box,” Axelrod wrote in a memo released Friday. “Following the intransigence of the Republicans during the debt debate, the approval rating of the GOP brand dropped to a historic low. The approval rating of Congress dropped to a near historic low.”
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Axelrod also dismissed the notion that Obama’s support within his liberal base is eroding.
“Despite what you hear in elite commentary, the president’s support among base voters and in key demographic groups has stayed strong,” he wrote. “According to the latest NBC-WSJ poll, Democrats approve of his performance by an 81%-14% margin. That’s stronger than President Clinton’s support among Democrats at this point in his term.”
However, many on the left say that Obama’s newly tough rhetoric with Republicans comes far too late after ceding ground on issues ranging from the debt ceiling to the Bush tax cuts to the war in Afghanistan.
Axelrod argued that once the general public learns more about Republican candidates, the more they will appreciate Obama’s policies.
“Their candidates are busy courting the Tea Party, signing off on any economic pledge it might demand – no revenue increases under any circumstances, ending Medicare as we know it, draconian cuts that will hamper job creation,” he wrote.
