Everywhere I turn there’s a pundit or poll lauding or criticizing Obama’s first 100 days in office. From Gitmo to bailouts, it seems everyone has an opinion…well almost everyone.
There are omnipresent experts giving very partisan, nonpartisan, nearly partisan, and anti-partisan interpretations of Obama’s relative successes and failures. Supporting many of these talking heads are polls galore that give the “citizens’ point of view” in the form of nicely crafted close-ended questions tied up in the beautiful bow of statistical significance.
Yet despite all this information, when it comes to the matter of Obama’s benchmark, I can’t help but wonder what a group of U.S. citizens would say about the last 100 days. To be clear, I don’t mean inviting people to Tweet or live blog during news casts –those techniques tend to illicit responses from the converted (e.g., viewers of Fox News or Keith Olbermann) or the incensed. I’m talking about asking a mix of “everyday people” what’s on their minds, not forcing them to react to a seeded storyline.
Beyond the “Agree/Disagree” forced-choice paradigm resides important and rich detail: how do voters define success—their own and Obama’s? In the mad rush to get food on the table and kids to school, do they really care that he shook hands with Hugo Chavez? What report card would they use to evaluate Obama and how much of their litmus test is being espoused by the experts and polls?
Two weeks ago in this blog, I challenged television executives to use their viewers to create content. Now I challenge news outlets to imagine a community of voters who continuously provide insight and feedback—nuanced, elaborate answers that are impossible to get through polling. Imagine how much we could learn about our country and president if we stopped asking narrow questions and started really listening.
You know, I don’t remember this many polls when President Bush was in, makes you wonder why? Is it possible that the current political right wing(really the wrong wing) really wants to see President Obama fail? Is that possible? Is it possible that these people (the wrong wing) are really that stupid, to want the President to fail, well that would mean failure for the country would it not? Hey, I have an idea, why don’t they participate and come up with some solutions instead of the same old NO, they sound like 5 year old’s! NO this and NO that….come up with alternative solutions and perhaps someone might listen.
This President is doing more to protect this Country and cover all of the issues then any other President that I have read about. The issues are all EXTREME, and IMMEDIATE. Finance, Unemployment, 2 Wars, Education, Health, now a possible Pandemic, not to mention the NOISE coming from the WRONG WINGERS…..no..NO…NO! But alas, no solutions from the GOP except the solutions they are looking for to win some seats in Congress, and recapture their own party. All of this the GOP is doing nothing, while the Country is getting solutions from this President, and is moving forward and is trying his best to FIX what the the last Administration and the GOP managed to bankrupt, both morally and financially. President Obama is working hard to fix what was broke, and has some good solutions….like all of us, he needs to be given a chance….stop with the POLLS, and give the man a chance!