Just now in Portland, Maine, Obama had a message for his Republican detractors:
And now that [health care reform’s] passed, they’re already promising “We’re going to repeal it.” They’re going to run on a platform of repeal in November. And my attitude is, go for it. You try to repeal it. I want — I want these Members of Congress to come out of Washington, come here to Maine and tell Mr. Milliken there, “You know what? We’re going to take away your tax credits, essentially raise your taxes.”
But a new Gallup/USA Today poll shows Obama has not yet enjoyed much of a bounce from one of the biggest legislative victories in American history. The poll was taken between Friday and Sunday and found. per Susan Page:
• Obama’s standing on four key personal qualities, including being a strong and decisive leader and understanding the problems Americans face in their lives, has dipped. For the first time since the 2008 campaign, he fails to win a majority of people saying he shares their values and can manage the government effectively.
• Twenty-six percent say he deserves “a great deal” of the blame for the nation’s economic problems, nearly double the number who felt that way last summer. In all, half say he deserves at least a moderate amount of blame. The blame directed at his predecessor, former president George W. Bush, hasn’t eased, however: 42% now give Bush “a great deal” of blame, basically unchanged from 43% last July.
• By 50%-46%, those surveyed say Obama doesn’t deserve re-election.
Read the full poll results here.