by Mark Silva
As President Barack Obama sets out to nominate his second member of the Supreme Court, he will meet today with leaders of both parties in the Senate who will be instrumental in confirming -- or resisting -- that recommendation.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will join Obama at the White House today to discuss his appointment of a successor for the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. So will Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judicary Committee, and Sen. Jeff Sessions, ranking Republican on the committee.
It's hard to imagine that they won't also talk about what the White House wants to call "Wall Street reform,'' with the president bound for New York on Thursday to deliver an address about the new regulatory powers he is seeking and the Senate's Republicans locked down against taking the bill to the floor this week.
Obama, who campaigned with pledges to bridge the partisan divide in Washington, finds his own influence diminished at a time of ebbing public confidence in the job that he is doing as president. His winning of healthcare legislation hasn't immediately boosted that confidence. Now, he has turned to aggressive fundraising for his own party to raise the money needed to fight a Republican tide in the 2010 midterm elections.
Most voters -- 55 percent -- say they disapprove of Obama's handling of both healthcare and the economy, with just 40 percent approving, according to a Quinnipiac University poll of 1,930 registered voters surveyed April 14-19. The poll released today has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
And by a margin of just 46-43 percent, those surveyed say they trust Obama more than they trust Republicans in the Senate to make the right decision about who should be seated on the Supreme Court. There's not a lot of room for a partisan fight on this selection, the second after Obama's appointment of Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Obama's own approval rating slipped to its lowest level in this poll, with 44 percent voicing approval for the job Obama is peforming as president --and 46 percent voicing disapproval. The highest approval rating that Quinnipiac had found for Obama was 59 percent last year.
The healthcare bill, holding the approval of fewer than four in 10 of those surveyed, "remains decidedly unpopular," Quinnipiac's Peter Brown says in a statement. "The White House had predicted passage of the health-care overhaul would boost his fortunes, but that has not been the case."
About 15 percent of voters surveyed in this poll consider themselves part of the TEA Party movement. Among them, only one in 10 approve of Obama's performance.
Wire servces contributed to this report.
Comments
We, Democrats, have to admit that the Republican-Libertarian-T.Baggers did quite a snow job on our nation, concerning some vital issues, such as our nation's destroyed economy and our broken healthcare system. Of course, they have been practicing, and honing their attack by word and gesture, employing the goon squads, since President Obama and Vice-President Biden won our White House. That unbalanced and skewed point of view is reminiscent of the mind-set America was in the grip of, before our leaders chose to do the right thing, concerning that cancer that was dug-in, here in America.
Look at how our nation fought against and overcame segregation, and now, our nation is improving in race-relations, not up to snuff, yet, but trying to get there. That was a major step forward and that is why I have great confidence in our nation's ability to see through the bushwhacking and see the good that will come, from the long overdo Healthcare Reform, passed, and from the much, much needed Financial Reform, that our President is fighting for, at the moment. So, America, try your darnedest not to accept the lies and distortions of the Republican-Libertarian-T.Baggers at face value. Do your research, talk with your friends, who are honest and knowledgeable. We must reign in the Weasels of Wall Street and the Bandits in our Boardrooms !! Then, America can focus on a better life for every American citizen, not just the rich and connected ones !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | April 21, 2010 8:15 AM
I would have much more faith in the proposed financial regulatory reform bill if I did not learn today that the top recepiants of contributions from the financial industry were Charles Schumer, Kristen Killebrand, Harry Reid and Chris Dodd.
It does not make sense that these individuals are pushing for financial regulatory reform when they are taking big money from the firms they claim they want to regulate!
Posted by: Pat H | April 21, 2010 8:52 AM
And of course, a new Gallup poll has Obama among the worst 3 of modern presidents at the fifth-quarter point. (Bush was toward the top! But of course that was the result of 9/11 -- at least, I'm certainly going to assume it was.)
Posted by: beth | April 21, 2010 8:58 AM
Pat H,
That's not an indictment of any person or party (I saw the same list today, and both sides of the aisle are represented, though there's a bias toward those currently in the majority/power). That's an indictment of our system which allows so much private money to sway decision-makers. It's an indictment of our system which REQUIRES so much money to run for office, and that need is perpetual and addictive. We need to get money out of politics.
Posted by: Kenny Bunkport | April 21, 2010 11:12 AM
KB,
Amen brother.
The boofoonery never ends.
Posted by: Bubba | April 21, 2010 12:35 PM
Donny - when will you learn to read? You lambast the same people that Barry is in bed with! the people who financed his campaign and continue to fill his war chest with that aweful, nasty, greedy, corrupt, Weasels of Wall Street and the Bandits in our Boardrooms cash. Then you expect us to believe he's the chosen one?
Please give us the Murder - Death - Kill count in Barry's war this week and while you're at it, release those photo's of the flag draped coffins coming back from Barry's war!
Darn it if you aren't the dumbest stooge on the planet.
Posted by: springfield | April 21, 2010 12:42 PM