More evidence that DC is not the US, and most of the talking heads are out of touch. From last night's CBS poll:
While Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has been much-criticized in Washington for his handling of the bonus situation, that criticism is not shared by most Americans. About half express confidence in Geithner’s overall ability to deal with the nation’s economic crisis, though only 13 percent have a lot of confidence in him right now.
And while AIG is unloved, and bonuses resented, whose fault was it? USA Today/Gallup says:
A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows that Americans hold AIG management itself
most responsible.
Nearly half of those surveyed (46%) say AIG management is "most to blame for
the fact that these bonuses were paid." Almost one in five (19%) finger
Congress, while 8% blame Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and 7% say
President Obama bears responsibility.
The poll of 2,019 adults was taken Saturday and Sunday. Half the sample --
1,002 respondents -- were asked about the blame game. Some were reached on
landlines, some on cellphones. The margin of error: +/- 3 percentage points.
And where does that leave Obama? It leaves us pretty much where we thought we were. Back to CBS:
...President Obama’s overall job performance rating appears unaffected by the AIG fallout. Sixty-four percent approve of the president’s performance, roughly the same as last week.
And ratings for the president’s handling of the overall economy are actually up slightly: Sixty-one percent now approve, up from 56 percent last week.
The poll numbers can be explained in part by the fact that most Americans do not think there was much the Obama administration could have done about the bonuses. Only 12 percent think the administration had a lot of control over the payouts, while more than half say the administration had little or no control.
The more sour number for Obama is that approval/disapproval on Obama's handling of AIG is 41/42 and that's the the number the media will glom on to, ignoring the rest. Why? People want him and Congress to tar and feather AIG, but recognize how to do that isn't clear.
As we reported Monday morning, more than three in four Americans think the government should try to recover the bonus money paid by AIG. Only 15 percent believe the company should get more government assistance to avoid bankruptcy. And just 23 accept the argument from some in the financial industry that the bonuses are necessary to hire and retain employees.
Gallup sez:
64% CBS job approval, 65% Gallup, 59.3% pollster.com... not a bad place to be. The poll mentions Republicans are less supportive of ex-Republican Gaithner than Democrats, but otherwise doesn't break down the numbers.
How about Congress and our media?
Nearly half of Americans say President Obama is spending the right amount of time dealing with the bonuses, and the rest are split on whether he is paying too much attention (24 percent) or too little attention (21 percent) to the issue.
Meanwhile, a majority of Americans - 53 percent - think Congress is spending too little time trying to solve the nation’s broader economic problems. And 40 percent believe the media is too focused on AIG and that they should be spending more time focused on other issues.
Obama doing a good job in difficut circumstances, Congress not so much. That, of course, means this must be good for John McCain.
