For whatever reason, Obama's approval ratings have risen dramatically lately. It appears that he must be doing something right. My question is, why didnt he do these things BEFORE the election in 2010?
Had Democrats gone into the 2010 elections with Obama's approval ratings at 53%, they probably would have only lost a minimal amount of seats and still controlled the House. It doesnt make any sense for Obama to do things to improve his image AFTER rather than before the midterm elections.
As much as we hated the tax deal, it improved his approval rating. If he were going to cave on the tax cuts anyway, he should have done it a long time ago to get it out of the way.
Another thing that really irked me was that Obama waited until after the elections to put in place a payroll tax holiday. This should have been a part of the original stimulus package and it was suggested throughout 2009 that a payroll tax cut like this be put in place. I still dont know why it wasnt.
It seems that Obama was on the wrong side of every issue in 2009 and 2010 and that is what cost Democrats big. For example, he should have kept his mouth shut about the Prof. Gates controversy back in July 2009 as well as the about the New York City mosque. He should have been more involved in the Gulf oil spill and showed more empathy by actually going down there immediately and showing that he cared.
My question is why did Obama wait until after the 2010 elections to be effective?