The GOP is failing when they are losing a state like TN. Okay, TN may not be like some of the other southern states all together, it’s state level politics has been middle left a very very very moderate left, at least when it came to the control of the States House of Reps and the states agenda for the last 140 years... straight! We know how the last couple of U.S. Senate races went and how the Presidential race’s went over the last couple of cycles.... NOT GOOD for Dems who lost the electoral battle in 2000. As a Democrat it was agonizing to watch the 2008 Race unfold here. Democrats not voting for Obama because he’s black, moderate Dems claiming he’s a terrorist, Republicans going ape shit over every little thing, guns going bye bye, Muslims, Rev. Wright, Mrs. O’s comments. He ended up losing the state by 15 points
McCain 57%
Obama 42%
But my, how a few months have changed things here in RED TN.... Follow me bellow the fold....
So, if you look at the 2008 race you can understand why the new numbers out of MTSU Survey Group floored me this afternoon.
All of the following are for strictly Tennessee... keep this in mind and the numbers will boggle you.
Obama Job Approval...
Approval 53%
Disapproval 27%
Above 50% and only a 27% Disapproval Rating???? WOW, a big screaming WOW!
Obama on Bipartisanship
Doing Enough 54%
Not Doing Enough 29%
Republican Bipartisanship
Doing Enough 24%
Not Doing Enough 59%
Most Tennesseans (54%) say Obama is doing enough to cooperate with Republicans in Congress, with only 29% saying that he isn’t doing enough. In dramatic contrast, only 24% of Tennesseans say Republicans in Congress are doing enough to cooperate with Obama, and most Tennesseans (59%) say Republicans in Congress are not doing enough to cooperate with Obama. Bipartisanship has been a major topic of discussion in the first months of the Obama administration.
OUCH! Now you know why Obama made bipartisanship key in the early going. The GOP is getting killed right now and looks like obstructionist... which they are... AND THIS IN RED TN!
Obama Administrations Plan for the Economy - Confidence
Yes 59%
No or Not Fully 35%
Obama Administrations Foreign Policy Agenda - Confidence
Yes 57%
No or Not Fully 32%
Managing the Federal Gov’t – Confidence
Yes 59%
No 32%
Obama Ethical Standards – Confidence
Yes 61%
No or Not Fully 30%
Other notables in the Poll released were
Iraq a Mistake
Obama Race Jokes Not funny
Obama Race Joke very common in TN
Economy the #1 Issue to voters in TN
So what have I learned...
TN congressmen who sign petitions about birth certificates seems dumb, The Governor considering not taking some of the stimulus money because he’s mad he was passed over for the HHS job, dumb, Blue Dogs voting against Obama’s plans in districts where blue dogs are not really needed like in TN-5, dumb.
But what I have learned the most is the if the GOP = Limbaugh then the GOP = Fail
It’s playing out right here in RED TN, Republicans are being viewed as obstructing and not doing enough to work with the pres. Tennesseans are hurting financially, yes even Republicans, and some smart ones don’t want Obama to fail. Independents are turning heavily against the Republican party and the more it’s leaders and defacto leaders stand up and call for the failure of the country, the further Indies run, the more it drives Dems and the deeper the hole they dig with a new label of the "Radical Right," sticking to them like stink on a fish. Keep it up Rush and the GOP, cause with numbers like this I can see TN squeaking back into a moderate blue like Clinton in his midterm.
For some background on MTSU polling check out their site and poke around. They had Obama losing big during the General Election polling around 13% so they have a track record that is pretty good. They also tracked the last Senate race and Gov. race pretty well. Besides our Governor, no Democrat has ever held numbers like that from any polling that I have seen in recent years for the state. The president has done something here in TN that I am still finding hard to believe.