Poll: Obama’s Popularity Highest In Four Years

January 31, 2013 by

Poll Obama's Popularity Highest In Four YearsBarack Obama has advanced to his highest personal popularity since his first year in office, and Americans who’ve formed an opinion of his second inaugural address last week broadly approve of it, the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll finds.

‘Favorable opinion’

Sixty percent of Americans now express a favorable opinion of Obama overall, up 10 points since last summer, in the heat of the presidential race. His popularity peaked at a remarkable 79 percent days before he took office four years ago, and last saw the 60s in November 2009.

Favorability – which differs from job approval – is the most basic rating of a public figure’s personal popularity. Obama’s exceeds Bush’s at the start of his second term by 5 percentage points, but trails Clinton’s by 5 and Reagan’s by 12. Intensity of sentiment is a plus for Obama: More have a “strongly” favorable opinion of him than a strongly unfavorable one, 39 vs. 26 percent, and twice as many strongly approve of his inaugural speech as disapprove. It’s the first time he’s been significantly more strongly popular than unpopular since early 2010.


‘Hit home’

The president’s inaugural speech – peppered with messages appealing to his core supporters – hit home with broad majorities of Democrats, liberals and nonwhites, as well as majorities of young adults, women, moderates and lower- to middle-income Americans. Though not majorities, significantly more approve than disapprove of Obama’s address among a variety of other groups, including political independents. Whites and “somewhat” conservatives split more evenly, while “very” conservatives and Republicans disapprove by wide margins.

METHODOLOGY – This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cell phone Jan. 23-27, 2013, among a random national sample of 1,022 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points. The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates of New York, N.Y., with sampling, data collection and tabulation by SSRS/Social Science Research Solutions of Media, Pa.

How about you — do you favor Obama or not? Feel free to express your opinion regarding the result of this recent poll!

Source: Greg Holyk, ABC Otus News, Yahoo News

Image: Zap 2 It

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Women In The Combat Zone

January 28, 2013 by

Women In The Combat ZoneIn the early 90’s, the United States Department of Defense banned women from entering ground combat units and the ban has continued up until recently, when the military has finally decided to lift it. At last, the U.S. military will reopen combat jobs to female soldiers.

‘Sexist policy’

Women have already been performing combat roles, but they have not been receiving the same training or recognition that their male counterparts have. The lift on this ban resulted from the Americal Civil Liberties Union suing the Pentagon over this sexist policy.

This change in military policy has been met with mixed opinions. Some contested the end to the ban for the reason that most women are incapable of performing military duties in the same level that men are. They say women should not be allowed to serve in the military because the job is too heavy, the hygiene practices are too unfit, and the emotional toll is too much for the delicate structure of a woman. On some situations, soldiers in the combat field go up to 15 days without a single shower, so what if a woman has her monthly period. Can she cope with this situation? Are women too “fragile” for this kind of environment?


‘It does not matter’

As for those who support this change, they say that it does not matter if you are a man or a woman, gay or straight, black or white — just as long as you are able to perform the job. And history has proven time and again, most women are up to it. They just need to be given ample opportunity. Women perform so many jobs that are more difficult than that of men, so allowing them to serve in the military is just another addition to their long list of job opportunities.

Do you agree that women should be allowed to serve in ground combat units? Do you know some women who have served in combat duty? Tell us how they have coped with the demands of this type of job!

Image: Yahoo News

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