Republicans, Do You Think You're Likable? Re. Reagan and Obama

Obama and Reagan: The Likability Factor

Stuart K. Spencer, the grizzled political strategist who helped Ronald Reagan become governor of California and president of the United States, believes Barack Obama holds an edge over Mitt Romney that he compares to the advantage Reagan often had over his opponents.

“It’s the likability factor,” said Spencer, a Romney supporter. “Many people think that Obama hasn’t delivered, but they still like him. I’d rather have a beer with him than Romney. Wouldn’t you?”

Leaving aside the fact that Romney doesn’t drink anything stronger than lemonade, Spencer’s gut view has statistical support from the time-tested Gallup Poll. Before the Democratic National Convention, Gallup’s editors observed that Obama’s personal favorability was consistently higher than his job approval rating. The day Gallup issued its report (Sept. 6), Obama’s favorability was 53 percent, compared to an approval rating of 45 percent.

According to the pollster, Obama’s low approval ratings explain why the president and his challenger have been tied for months. This week, helped by a convention bounce, Obama spurted to a six-point lead in the latest Gallup survey. His low approval ratings nonetheless keep his re-election in a historical “danger zone,” according to Gallup.

Polls taken during the two-term Reagan presidency did not make a sharp distinction between “favorability” and “approval.” It’s no secret, however, that Reagan was often more popular than his policies, as is suggested by the fact that he usually ran ahead of his poll numbers at the ballot box.

But polls, even when they’re as good as Gallup’s, don’t tell the full story. Spencer believes “likability” is an inexplicable quality possessed by only a handful of politicians. “When they like you, it gives you running room,” said Spencer, who recalls numerous times when the public gave Reagan the benefit of a doubt for a dubious remark.

The same could be said of Obama. He’s aloof -- his critics say “arrogant” -- but, like Reagan, Obama is skillful at spoofing the opposition. Obama recently quipped that Republicans are so enamored of tax cutting they believe it can improve one’s sex life. Reagan said he wasn’t worried about the deficit because it was big enough to take care of itself.

Still, as a journalist who covered Reagan’s political career and wrote five books about him, I confess to unease about the likability standard. During Reagan’s presidency, the observation that he was likable was usually a put-down, as in Washington insider Clark Clifford’s crack that Reagan was an “amiable dunce.” Two decades later Howell Raines wrote that “Clifford was charged in a banking scandal and the dunce ended the Cold War.”

Reagan was a transformational as well as likable president. He pledged to cut taxes, increase defense spending and balance the budget, carrying out the first two promises at the expense of the third. In his second term, he negotiated effectively with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, reducing the threat of nuclear war and helping lay the groundwork for the Soviet Union’s demise. Retrospectively, the American people in Gallup polls rank him with Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy as the greatest of presidents.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/09/14/obama_and_reagan_the_likability_factor_115445.html
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I've been trying to tell Republicans this and they keep skipping over this very important fact: they are not likable.

They say mean things. They aren't witty, they're acerbic. They (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) about half the country being lazy (instead of explaining why entitlements hurt people in the long run). They complain all the time.

I can't name a single "likable" Republican whose last name isn't Paul or Eastwood.

So without the usual snark from liberals--who I think act like jerks 99% of the time, too--I want to know if a) you guys feel you are likable, and b) why you don't think your attitude has anything to do with your electability.

 

Well I don't think I'm likable, so no! I admit though, I would rather be right than likable, and I admit if you really like being right, it's difficult to be liked.

I do think there are plenty of witty, and not merely acerbic Republicans though.

 

I said that when it came to voting Ron Paul and people told me to grow up and vote lesser of two evils.

I feel your pain.

 

I never liked Obama and don't understand why anyone likes him. He comes off as arrogant and narcissistic.

 

Obama does have a charisma and charm about him that makes people like him, especially those that aren't really politically informed, which is like 99%+ of the people.

But for the few that are informed, he's easy to see through.

 

Because he doesn't call people lazy or freeloaders. People don't like that.

 

Is the US likable? Not really. Its people don't give a (*)(*)(*)(*) about their troops in Afghanistan. They don't even talk about the troops.

 

I do. I care a lot about the troops and so do others.

 

If I know my Republicans, they're used to being unpopular thanks to their hand-in-hand "salt of the earth" Christian faith, which tends to make them pretty unpopular as well.

What, then, do they care if they're not well-liked? They're out to do the "right thing" regardless.

 

I disagree entirely. Romney was not a "Christian". He believes he'll be the god of his own planet some day. He trafficked in dead baby parts with Stericycle and they voted for him.

 

I would just chime in with this, if you are voting for people because they are likeable then your not voting in the best interests of the country. That being said, a candidate who pushes the likeability factor just to get votes is being disingenuous.

In my opinion, either party should pick major issues and push those over trying to appeal to the largest groups possible. That is a vision that of course will never happen but in a perfect world that's how it would be.

 

Wow. There's some hate right there.

If that's the definition of 'likable' you can keep it, tyvm.

 

What's hateful about it? He believes he will be as great as God someday and he profited off of abortion.

 

I agree with you. I'm not making the argument that you should be more likable. It's just you guys wonder why you don't win.

 

Don't lump me in with those leftist republicans. They are nothing but communists who know the words to the Star Spangled Banner.

 

...which part? Because both things she said were true. Mormon theology = good Mormons become gods of their own planets, and Romney trafficked in dead baby parts with Stericycle.

 

I care very deeply about the troops, more than any other group in fact. I have friends and family out there.

 

Maybe you don't know your Republicans. I'm agnostic, and most of the Republicans I know are too or at least non religious. But I'm tolerant of Christians, so that's another strike against my likability since that is a group that society approves of hating on. Since I don't hate Christians, I don't fit in with a lot of internet groups.

Oops! I just made myself less likable!

 

Well, I'm a bitter (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) 80% of the time. I took a potshot at Romney when I didn't mean it and am just pissed at Republicans. Like I could care less that he's shooting for godhood and his own planet some day, and profiting off abortion...that actually bothered me, BUT it also bothers me that Republicans are calling Obama a "Muslim" while endorsing a guy who believes Jesus and Satan are blood brothers and believe he will be equal to Jehovah some day and it bothered me they criticized Obama for taking the same stance Romney did AND Obama never had stock in the abortion industry.

It's this attitude of seeing what you want to see about your own party and hating it in the other party.

I actually think Mitt Romney is probably an AWESOME husband and a good dad. He looks to have a happy family and that's great.

 

Democrats are equally unlikeable: They need to resort to bribery with unaffordable and excessive entitlements to garner their votes.

 

I am not a republican but who cares if idiots dont like you.

 

Right but since they're winning right now, maybe its the Republicans who need to **** for a second and look at why they're losing, ie they are unlikable because they act like the grouchy old man on the block who hates kids.

 

What can be done to bring them home immediately?

 

Anybody who wants to get elected should.

 

I don't know, I have no military background. I don't see why Kennedy's Vietnam withdrawal plan wouldn't be sufficient. Take them out 1,000 troops at a time.

But again, I have no military background. I just want them home as quickly and as safely as possible, I want them treated like kings when they get back home, and I want to make (*)(*)(*)(*) sure we don't send them out again for any reason except a guaranteed threat to our security.