It's wonderful that this article MENTIONS political independents! I'm sick and tired of us being invisible in too much of the mainstream media.
But, I thought the "Savior" was going to fix EVERYTHING? What a JOKE!
www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/21/majority-says-obama-doesnt-have-a-clear-plan-for-dealing-with-o/19525509Majority Says Obama Doesn't Have Clear Plan for Dealing With Oil Spill
Bruce Drake
Contributing Editor
Nearly six in 10 Americans do not believe that President Barack Obama has a clear plan for dealing with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and, despite his efforts in his Oval Office speech to use the spill as a wake-up call for tackling the energy issue, a plurality says he also does not have a clear plan for developing new sources of energy, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll conducted June 16-20.
Fifty-nine percent said they do not believe Obama has a clear plan for dealing with the spill while 32 percent said he does, with 9 percent undecided. Even Democrats give him tepid support on this question, with 46 percent saying he has a clear plan and 41 percent believing he does not, with 13 percent undecided. About three-quarters of Republicans say he doesn't have a clear plan, and 63 percent of independents agree.
But in other questions:
-- 60 percent of respondents said they have a lot or some confidence in Obama's ability to handle a crisis, compared with 39 percent who do not.
-- Three-quarters of Americans favor more government regulation of offshore drilling practices of oil companies to protect the environment. About the same percentage do not trust oil companies -- much or at all -- to act in the best interest of the public.
-- Americans are split on how confident they are that BP will fairly compensate victims of the oil spill, with 50 percent being very or somewhat confident (only 10 percent were "very" confident), while 49 percent are not.
Forty-five percent don't think Obama has a clear plan for finding new sources of energy, while 41 percent say he does, with 14 percent undecided. On this question, Obama gets more solid backing from fellow Democrats, with 60 percent believing he has a clear plan. Fifty-eight percent believe that there needs to be fundamental changes in U.S. energy policy.
Overall, 47 percent disapprove of his handling of the spill while 43 percent approve, with 10 percent undecided. Republicans and Democrats split along predictable lines, while independents disapprove 52 percent to 39 percent, with 9 percent undecided.
Sixty-one percent call Obama's response to the spill too slow, while 32 percent say it was about right, with 5 percent undecided.
Separately, a Pew Research/National Journal poll conducted June 17-20 said 35 percent rated the Obama administration's response to the spill as poor, 29 percent called it "only fair" and 33 percent said it was excellent or good. The number of those saying the response was excellent or good or fair remained about the same as in May, while those grading it as poor was up from 26 percent in the previous poll.
Obama's four trips to the Gulf since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20 seem to have paid off, according to the CBS/New York Times poll. Three-quarters of those surveyed believe he cares a lot or some about the people whose lives have been directly affected (with 43 percent saying "a lot.")
Although the public questions Obama's performance on the spill and whether he knows how to deal with it going forward, 60 percent of Americans in the CBS/Times survey have a lot or some confidence in his ability to handle a crisis. Sixty-two percent say he has strong qualities of leadership, compared with 35 percent who do not, with 3 percent undecided.
Forty-nine percent believe that allowing increasing offshore drilling is too risky, while 42 percent favor it, with 9 percent undecided. Republicans heavily favor it, while Democrats just as strongly oppose increased drilling, while opinion among independents is more closely divided, with 48 percent worried more about the costs and risks, compared with 43 percent who favor more drilling.
Eighty-one percent blame risks taken by BP and its partners for the spill, and an equal number say BP could be doing more to clean it up. Fifty-seven percent say that BP executives are "hiding something" when they talk publicly about the spill.