RCP poll question? What am I missing?

Question

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/

Right now here are the poll results

Obama's Approval rating: 60.7%
Disapproval rating: 30.7%

On the other hand,

Direction of Country:
Right direction is 34.7%
Wrong direction: 58.8%

Congress Job Approval
Approval: 33.8%
Disapprove: 59.3%

You would think that if the president's approval numbers were so high, that the number would be about the same for the country's direction. What am I missing?

Answer 1

What ever you are missing, I'm missing too.



EDIT: These people call us stupid but seem to saying they still approve of Obama even if he is taking the country in the wrong direction. If you really approved of the job he is doing, you wouldn't think the country is headed in the wrong direction. Seems to be a bit of an oxymoron.

Answer 2

First, most people know the economy is still in decline, even if we are starting to see some positive signs. People approve of what Obama is doing--but they also realize we still are not on the right course, simply because you don't tur n things around overnight.



As for cCongress--that's actually a good rating. Seriously. Look at the history of that particular poll question. Congress ALWAYS gets low ratings. People look at the institution and are rarely satisfied with it. Ask them about individual Senators and Congresspeople and you get much higher marks.



It's a good question--we're always inundated with a barrage of statistics. You are making an effort to understand what they mean--my compliments.



I strongly recommend "Damn Lies and Statistics" by Joel Best. He's an authority on social science, but this book is written for the general public to help them understand all the numbers. Its short and very readable. You can probably get it in the public library or a used copy on Amazon for a few bucks.

Answer 3

Go back to the 'direction of the country' section and scroll down to the graph. It clearly shows that Obama has increased the nation's positive opinion on the direction of the country...from a low of 90% disapproval back in October an November to only 58% today.

EDIT: I looked the first time....the numbers are correct....just scroll to the graph and look at the October/November graph data:



CBS News/NY Times 10/10 - 10/13 approve 7, disapprove 89, spread -82

USA Today/Gallup 10/10 - 10/12 approve 7, disapprove 91, spread -84

Pew Research 10/09 - 10/12 approve11, disapprove 86, spread -75

ABC News/Wash Post 10/08 - 10/11 approve 8, disapprove 90



EDIT: I'm not sure if you are trying to appear stupid or what? READ The area under the graph. RCP gets their polling data from ALL other polls...then has averages of all of those polls. Underneath the graph, which CLEARLY shows a 90% NEGATIVE approval rating for the direction of the country back in October/November, there is a LONG section of the polling data to support the graph diagram. These are directly from the RCP site, and clearly show that the polls back in October/November were incredibly low, and have seen a drastic upswing in approval of the direction of the country since Obama took office.

Answer 4

I approve of the President...I do not approve of the negative people in this country who are throwing tea parties as our enemies watch. He didn't send anyone to war he is doing what needs to be done to straighted out the mess. Our country is have a whole lot of problems so we need to go in a better direction but that doesn't stop the tumbling down that started with all that Bush did. We still have many things that are going wrong. Congress has a lot of people who do not want to give their states the stimulus money while people who are unemployed really need this money so I do not approve of the people who are holding money back from the people in this country & I think many of those that need this money also disapprove.

Answer 5

There is still a lot of anxiety and uncertainty about the economy and specific Administration economic policies (bailouts, stimulus, etc.) even while the President himself still enjoys enormous personal popularity.



Really not hard to understand at all.

Answer 6

I believe the congress and its influence on the Pres. and the "No" Party are a big factor. Obama is not problem with this crisis and smart people who were asked know this.



PEACE*

Answer 7

There are three kinds of Lies. Lies, Damnable Lies and Statistics.

Mark Twain.



You forgot to read Mark Twain.

Answer 8

You are missing the do nothing but complain, obstructionist Republicans in Government now.



Thankfully the phony conservative Limbo-cons are easy to find, and will lose election next time.

Answer 9

i am trying to keep my opinion of the man

separate from my opinion of his policies

congress is far more dangerous at this point

than the president is

Answer 10

because it's only been three months and things move very slowly...

Answer 11

Cerebral process!