Obama up, Fox down

Fox News Sinks to a 12 Year Low in Ratings as Obama Approval Hits 60%

Here are two pieces of news that may seem unrelated, but aren’t. President Obama’s job approval rating has hit a four year high of 60% at the same time as Fox News’ ratings plummet to a 12 year low.

In January, Fox News has its worst prime time month in the key age 25-54 demographic since August 2001. Greta Van Susteren had her worst month ever on the network, and her show registered the lowest prime time ratings for 10 PM on Fox since July of 2008. While MSNBC’s ratings were up 9% in total viewers , Fox News registered their single worst day with viewers age 25-54 since July of 2008.

Meanwhile, a new poll released today by ABC News/Washington Post revealed that President Obama’s favorability rating has reached its highest level since November 2009. Obama’s favorability is now at 60%, and has grown ten points since the summer. Obama now has more more people strongly in favor of him (39%) than strongly opposed (26%). The president has a 60% favorable rating with Independents, and a 68% favorable rating with moderates. The president also has a 66% with young adults, and middle/lower income people.

It is isn’t a coincidence that as approval of President Obama soars, Fox News’ ratings plummet.

The wave of change that was expected in 2009 appears to be arriving in 2013. Just in the past month, the country has moved to the left on gun control, immigration reform, and women in combat. The leftward shifts on gun control and immigration join the country’s shift left on taxes. Taxes, guns, and immigration have been three of the tent pole issues that kept the Republican coalition of evangelicals, fiscal conservatives, and libertarians united. In the past two months, the Republican Party has seen the nation move away from their positions on all of these issues.

The national shift left is also reflected in the cable news ratings. As with the results at the ballot box, the key demographic in cable news are people age 25-54. These viewers have been steadily fleeing Fox News for a while now, but their losses have grown from a trickle to a tidal wave. Like the Republican Party, Fox News is out of step with where a key demographic is right now.

More research would have to be done to determine if there is a direct causal link between Obama’s approval and Fox News’ ratings, but these two events taken together with the president’s landslide reelection and the nation’s policy shift left hint at a significant shift in the political winds. After the Bush years, the left is living a bit of dream right now. The Republican Party is in disarray. Fox News is on the decline, and a popular second term incumbent Democratic president is pushing a center/left policy agenda.

It may have taken a few years longer than some thought, but it looks like hope and change have finally come.

Probably not the most unbiased news source, but figures are figures....

Yeah i saw this poll about obama favorability rating and it absolutely perplexes me how after four years of the obama economy 60% still view him favorably. I really dontget it. I think the mainstream medias coverage of him has tohav somethng to do with it, because he has yet to do anythng positive for the country or its economy. It also perplexes me how the republicans gained a fw seats. Its like people voted for the status quo of nothing getting fixed, then they expect things to get done. I used to have faith in the american electorate to get things right, but it really seems like most people dont even pay attention to whats going on anymore.

Meanwhile the economy contracted last quarter, unemployment is still abysmal, and were $5 trillion dollars more in debt with nothing to show for it. Authors will probably be writing books for decades about how popular he remained while the country was falling apart around him.

Hell history will probably record him as one of the greatest of all time, shit...

Pun wrote:Yeah i saw this poll about obama favorability rating and it absolutely perplexes me how after four years of the obama economy 60% still view him favorably.

Is all a matter of relativity I guess. Obama hasn't done a whole lot in the last 4 years, but he still looks pretty good compared to all the other creatures you guys have managed to elect (and I'm talking about both sides of the aisle here). What's congress's approval rating these days, 14% or so? and 6% for republicans? Hell, Nickelback and cockroaches are more popular....

On the Fox News thing, isn't hugely surprising their ratings dropped after they were so far from reality with their predictions for the election - even the people who slavishly follow them at the exclusion of all other news outlets must have gotten a bit of a wake-up call after that.

Congressional approval ratings are deceptive because no one going to like 300 something politicians from both parties like they wud one politician from one party. I mean i get that everything isnt obamas fault, but he was elected to lead and solve problems, particularly the economy, and hes a failure in this regard, preferring still to blame all our problems on others. I mean is it still not obviously clear that his policies are having the opposite effct of what we want? Higher taxes and thousands of new regulations ARE NOT business friendly. Obamacare has gone from a 2000 page bill to already 13000 pages of new regulations. The stimulus was beaureucratic and ineffective, and we now know that obamacare has actually increased healthcare costs, and its not evenbeen fully implemented yet. I mean hello, its not working. I used to think the best way to get conservatives elected wAs to let liberals inact their damaging policies, and show they dont work, but i guess nobody cares anymore. I sense a lot of defeatism in the country.