RUSH: The program here talking about the Europeans angry at him over climate change failure, that they still like him personally. You know, that’s what they’re pushing. I read a story here — I think it’s American Thinker, I’m not sure, I’ll find it — about polling, and the guy makes the point that I’ve been making for years: Polling has now become a way of making news, of shaping opinion. Polling and the results of polling are now news, when nothing could be further from the truth. And, since every politician is obsessed with it, polling is how agendas are kept alive.
For example, if you look at the issue-by-issue poll, you find that there is not a majority that supports anything Obama is doing. And yet, everybody gives him a high likability rating and everybody gives him a fairly decent approval number, although that’s teetering right around 50% at Gallup, 46% at Rasmussen. But the point is as long as the pollsters report that Obama is personally liked that intimidates members of Congress into opposing his agenda because Obama is universally liked, he’s personable, he’s smart, he speaks well, and even though people hate his issues and his agenda they like him personally. Well, my theory on that is that these approval numbers are skewed high, perhaps not artificially by the pollsters twisting things, although they do do that with samples, but I think the old, ugly racist head raises itself here. I think when a pollster calls somebody and says, ‘What do you think about President Obama?’ I think people are afraid to say anything negative because he’s our first black president, and especially if the poll is done in person.
So the point of the story that I read, and I actually agree with it, if you want to find out just how strong Obama is, actually focus on where he is issue by issue by issue. And if you can’t find an issue where the majority of Americans support his agenda that should tell you something, because if you go ask somebody, ‘What do you think about health care?’ ‘No, I’m not in favor of this.’ You take Obama out of the question and you get an honest answer. You put Obama in the question and you get a skewed result. It’s just that simple. So the Europeans still like him? Let me tell you something. Obama came to office in order, ladies and gentlemen, to change our image in the world, to make the world like us. And now Der Spiegel, Europeans are fit to be tied over Obama caving on climate change because without us they can’t get it done on their own and they believe this hoax, they think it’s a big problem. So they’re mad, but they still like Obama personally. Yes, that’s what we’re led to believe.
Folks, I still can’t get off this trial. I can’t stop thinking about this. We’ve got some audio sound bites coming up today from people like Dick Durbin, who you will hear say that the reason for doing this is to change our image in the world. It really isn’t about punishing these guys. It’s about trying to make amends for opening Club Gitmo in the first place. In other words, these people think we need to spank ourselves, as I used to do to make amends for mistakes on this program.