The poll quoted below was conducted by Democracy Corps-Third Way. Democracy Corps is led by James Carville and Stanley Greenberg, so all you knee jerk leftists can stow your "it is all a bunch of lies and conservative generated propaganda" explanations. Clearly, that is not the case. I have to admit, even I am a bit surprised by the extent of the fall in America's standing in the world in the eyes of Americans, as discussed in the article below. I knew President Obama had weakened us, which is an direct consequence of his weakness and naivete as a leader. But the American people seem to be more tuned into this than I would have expected. In any case, this is really bad news for our country. Obviously, on this front, we would have been much better off electing John McCain as President of the United States. In fact, if this poll is any indication, then only the most dedicated Obama Kool-aid drinkers are still fooled by the idea that Obama is going to transform the international scene by smiling, reaching out, and trying to have unconditional talks with all the bad actors around the world. It seems increasingly clear that even Barack Obama himself has been disabused of this little fantasy that he once had. [RQUOTER]Poll: U.S. has Lost Global Standing Under Obama A majority of Americans say the United States is less respected in the world than two years ago and believe President Obama and other Democrats fall short of Republicans on the issue of national security, according to a poll by two left-leaning groups. The Democracy Corps-Third Way survey released Monday finds that by a 10-point margin — 51 percent to 41 percent — Americans think the standing of the United States has dropped during the first 13 months of Mr. Obama's presidency. "This is surprising, given the global acclaim — and Nobel peace prize — that flowed to the new president after he took office," the pollsters said. The Democratic Party also plummeted on national security. A May survey by the pollsters found that the public saw the Democratic and Republican parties as equally able to handle national security (41 percent trusted Democrats more and 43 percent trusted Republicans more). On conducting the war on terrorism, the two parties were tied at 41 percent. But the latest poll shows a massive gap, with Democrats trailing by 17 points, 33 percent to 50 percent, on which party likely voters think would do a better job on national security. "The erosion since May is especially strong among women, and among independents, who now favor Republicans on this question by a 56 to 20 percent margin," the pollsters said in their findings. More surprising was the huge gap on "right-track, wrong-track." Just 31 percent of those polled feel the country is on the right track; a whopping 62 percent say the United States is on the wrong track. "We would not want the election to be held today, with this poll," said Democracy Corps' chief pollster Stan Greenberg. "If the election were held today, this would be a 'change' election." The Democrats' national security credentials are under assault on several fronts: • "Keeping America safe" — Democrats now trail by 13 points (34 percent to 47 percent); the gap was just five points in July 2008. • "Ensuring a strong military" — Democrats trail by 31 points (27 percent to 58 percent). • "Making America safer from nuclear threats" — Democrats trail by 11 points (34 percent to 45 percent), "despite the president's strong actions and speeches on steps to reduce nuclear dangers," the pollsters said. "The Obama strategy of speaking loudly and carrying no stick has caught up with this White House, and it is beginning to remind voters of Jimmy Carter all over again," said Republican strategist Scott Reed. "Carter reinforced the caricature of weakness abroad and gave the GOP dominance in the national security arena for decades." ....(More at the Link)[/RQUOTER]
Interesting -- According to, you know, foreigners, your poll seems a bit suspect. U.S.: Obama Restores U.S. Intl Image to Pre-Bush Era President Barack Obama has restored Washington's image virtually everywhere around the world close to the levels it enjoyed before former President George W. Bush took power in 2001, according to a major new international survey released here Thursday by the Pew Global Attitudes Project (GAP).
To be fair, this article is 9 months old. That being said, has much changed? I don't know. I do agree, though: polling Americans on the global standing of America is kind of stupid.
Wtf? 9 months old? So when the article came out, Obama had been president like 5 months? And the poll had been conducted probably a month prior to that... so 4 months in office and we're taking people's opinions into account for judgment?
I thought the line 5 years ago was "We dun care wut other countries think?" The mysterious teabag-like amnesia strikes again!
The fact of Obama's election was seen as a positive development for the US reputation by most of the world, that's why people like basso and jorge (when in "Other countries don't matter" mode, depending on the day) would cry and throw a tantrum whenever Obama would play to cheering crowds abroad. In fact, I imagine they could have taken that poll in November 2008 and the numbers would have been even higher. Basically the takeaway from this is that everybody really hated GWB. Here and abroad. For good reason.
I don't think the exercise is stupid. If Americans think we've lost standing in the world, even if they are completely wrong in that notion it will still affect how they vote. For the sake of his re-election, Obama's propaganda department may want to do something to correct this perception.
If I were to take a stab (edit: without reading the article), it would be that Americans think we're weaker so they think other countries doesn't take us as seriously. Typical Republican talking points fueled by the media they listen to...
Maybe you should ask people outside the U.S if they respect us more. Whether we think they respect us more or not is a ****ing useless question. THe world hated W. I don't understand why repugs are so ****ing stupid.
Usually the GOP is more organized and Mojorge and basso aren't allowed to post exactly the same daily party talking point topic within the same morning. Are they slipping?
So who's troll is this guy? Since BigTexxx and Trader_Jorge are not posting anymore waiting for some glorious day it has to be of them.
And I still care as much as I did when Bush was president. Not at all. If they don't like our president, screw them, it is an internal matter.
It's an internal poll. ...albeit an old poll and not a very interesting poll. One relevant part will is that "perception" is very important during an election year. So lets revisit in a couple years.
I don't really think so - the question is far too flawed and encompasses too many particular answers. First the question simply asks whether or not the US has "lost standing" whatever that means, in 13 months which merely measures perceived correlation, not perceived causation. Second, the range of particular answers is so broad that it can suit whatever preconcieved notions are available, not to mention a range of completely illogical outcomes. Teapartiers would claim the US "lost standing" due to attempts to enact health care reform. Which ostensibly, they should not care about, of course, because a lot of these people are isolationist-types who generally take the "who cares what others think!" line of thinking. Others would say that the US "lost standing" because of the attempts of teabaggers and others to block health care reform. You can pretty much say this for any issue. I mean absent something like Abu Ghraib or Katrina, which could more definitely be attributed as causational and to which the response abroad could more easily be measured - it's very difficult to make much of this line of questioning. It involves multi-step subjective calculations by people with very little information.
Except that this poll was conducted and published by James Carville, a die-hard Democrat if ever there was one. Oops.
A poll of Americans asking if we are more respected by people outside of America. How 'bout a study of cancer survivors to gauge the effects of, y'know, measles.
