Comedy Gold: Obama could not muster 18,000 people to fill arena at campaign kickoff

There were several thousand empty seats in OSU’s Schottenstein Center today as Obama kicked off his reelection campaign. They were kept off camera view as much as possible.

Via Politico:

The big Obama show — heralded by a huge “Forward” banner atop OSU’s Schottenstein Center and a fire-’em-up presidential introduction from first lady Michelle Obama — was less targeted at the national media than his 2007 announcement in Springfield, Ill., when the Obama campaign sought to project the image of an unstoppable nationwide movement.

This time, Obama’s team is localizing its message and targeting key constituencies — students, veterans, women, Latinos, African Americans — in too-close-to-call states such as Ohio and Virginia, while firing up young voters and volunteers whose support Obama sorely needs.

If the carefully choreographed kick off was any indication, Obama will face some challenges in recapturing the 2008 magic — especially among young voters who weathered three years of souring job prospects and rising college costs.

The campaign was only able to muster 14,000 supporters in an arena designed to hold more than 18,000. Several thousand empty seats ringed its upper deck, mostly out of view from the cameras.

“We are going to win this thing the old-fashioned way — door by door, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood,” said Obama, ditching the suit and tie for his 2008 campaign uniform — shirtsleeves, carefully cuffed at the forearm, and tan chinos. Keep on reading...

Democratic strategist about Obama's re-election chances: "“If the election were next Tuesday he’d lose. "

President Obama will be judged mainly on economic performance. There is little chance of any significant improvement in the employment numbers or housing market in the next year. Obama will need an economic miracle to survive.

(The Hill) — President Obama arrived back in Washington after his August vacation to deal with a hurricane, but Irene was only the first of many tests awaiting the embattled commander-in-chief.

With his approval ratings at the lowest point in his presidency, Obama returns to face a restless Congress, a hurricane that tore up the East Coast, continued unrest and uncertainty in the Middle East and an ailing economy that is not expected to improve much before the 2012 elections.

“If the election were next Tuesday he’d lose. That’s how bad it is,” says a Democratic strategist.

Meltdown: Obama's approval falls to 35% in Pennsylvania

It is hard to imagine how President Obama could put together an electoral victory without Pennsylvania. A Muhlenberg College poll has his approval at only 35% in the keystone state.

FOX Nation: President Barack Obama, who political experts say will need a win in Pennsylvania to retain the White House, dipped to 35 percent approval among the state's registered voters, according to a Muhlenberg College poll released Friday.

Obama's approval has recently dipped in New Jersey and even New York.

Obama in Trouble in New York and New Jersey?

Look for President Obama's re-election team to start leaping out windows of tall buildings.

Siena College poll finds only 36% of New Yorkers approve of Obama's job performance.

The poll finds that just 36% of New Yorkers approve of Obama's job performance -- a 17-point plummet from the 53% rating he received in May. Meanwhile, 63% of voters give the president a negative job performance rating.

"His job performance has not fallen, it has tanked," said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg.

"Even Democrats are evenly divided. For the first time since March, fewer than half of voters say they are prepared to re-elect the president.

Quinnipiac poll finds only 44% 0f New Jersey voters plan to vote for Obama.

President Barack Obama is headed in the wrong direction as New Jersey voters disapprove 52 - 44 percent of the job he is doing, down from a 50 - 46 percent positive score June 21 and the president's lowest score ever in the Garden State.
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New Jersey voters say 49 - 45 percent that Obama does not deserve to be reelected, but say 45 - 37 percent that they would vote for Obama over an unnamed Republican challenger in the 2012 presidential race.

True Blue New York Turns On Obama

Quinnipiac University poll: 49% of New York voters disapprove of President Obama. Obama's reelection team must have messed their pants when they read this poll result.

- President Obama might need to start taking a few more campaign trips to New York -- and not just to raise cash.

A stunning new survey gives the president a negative approval rating in the Empire State for the first time, with just 45 percent approval and 49 percent disapproval among voters, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll.

That's a sharp turnaround from June, when Obama's New York popularity was a healthy 57-38.

In the 2008 presidential election, Obama carried New York with 63 percent of the vote.

The poll of 1,640 registered voters was conducted from Aug. 3-8, just after Congress approved the hard-fought debt legislation and before this week's market mayhem on Wall Street.

But according to Quinnipiac, Obama in his re-election bid next year would still take 49 percent of the vote in New York state versus a generic GOP challenger's 34 percent.

"The debt-ceiling hullabaloo devastated Obama's numbers even in true-blue New York," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

More Bad Poll News for Obama: Fifty-one percent of voters surveyed said they don’t think Obama should have a second term

The second term of Jimmy Carter looks to be coming to an end in 2012.

(Politico) — A majority Americans believe President Obama doesn’t deserve to win reelection in 2012, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.

Fifty-one percent of voters surveyed said they don’t think Obama should have a second term at the White House, while 47 percent signaled that he deserves four more years.

These numbers are hardly encouraging for Obama, who is back to raising cash for his reelection campaign after a brief hiatus — attending two back-to-back DNC events Monday evening — but he is faring pretty well compared to his colleagues in Congress. Only 24 percent of those polled think a majority of lawmakers on Capitol Hill deserve re-election.
Read more here.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is now openly calling for Barack Obama’s re-election

Can you blame him? President Obama gave away the European missile defense. His supporters claimed there must have been a secret deal for Russian help with Iran's nuclear weapons program. That hasn't materialized. Obama either gave away the missile shield for nothing or was naive enough to let the Russians double-cross him, Either way, you can see why they want four more years with a patsy as U.S. President.

When Hillary Clinton famously called for a “reset” of Washington’s relations with Moscow back in March 2009, she should have used the more accurate term, “surrender”. From caving in to Russian demands to scrap plans for Third Site missile defences in eastern and central Europe to signing on to the New START Treaty, US policy towards Russia under the Obama administration has been one wretched give away after another, even stretching as far as handing over sensitive information on Britain’s nuclear deterrent.

Is it any wonder that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is now openly calling for Barack Obama’s re-election? In an extraordinary interview with The Financial Times, the Russian leader gives a glowing account of his US counterpart, in a direct intervention in US domestic politics 16 months ahead of the November 2012 presidential election.

Dmitry Medvedev:

Let me tell you that no one wishes the re-election of Barack Obama as US president as I do…

Scary: Obama Will File For Reelection Next Week

Hasn't he done enough damage to this country?

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is getting ready to make one of Washington’s worst kept secrets official: He wants a second term.

Democratic officials familiar with the plan say Obama will file 2012 campaign papers with the Federal Election Commission as early as this coming week.

It’s a long-anticipated but formal step that will allow him to start raising money for the campaign, which will be based in Chicago.

Get a bumper sticker and let Obama know One Term is enough!