Numbers

In celebration of my 100th post, along with a glass of wine, I thought we'd do some statistics. With upcoming elections, you should be no stranger to the poll counts, shiny red and blue graphs that foresee the future. Well, here's one I wasn't expecting.
Was Bush a better president than Obama? Indeed, CNN released a poll questioning voters how they felt about the 44th compared to the 43rd president. According to the poll, only 47% feel that Obama is doing a better job, compared to 45% who feel Bush did.
Hey, on the bright side tho, by a 50 to 42% margin, voters feel that Obama is doing a better job than McCain would have. Not to sound condescending, but what the fuck is wrong with these people?! You are more critical of a man who never even made it into office than the worst president in our nations history?! Are you fucking joking?!
Granted, I have my bone to pick with Obama, but all the hooked on phonics lessons and all the psychiatric sessions in the world couldn't begin to scratch the surface of how I feel about Bush. He and his cronies brought this country from sympathetic heroes to crooked world cop in a matter of a year. He destroyed our economy with his Friedman-esque free market bullshit, he opened up the environment to further get fucked by the protruding special interests of big business, he left every fucking child behind, he put innocent lives on the line for nothing more than some black goo and green paper. Obama isn't worthy of the peace prize but considering the cluster fuck he's wading through, he has made things WAY better than they would've been with four more years of that bullshit. Our country barely made it through. Obama, unfortunately, in my opinion, is not the answer we need, but he is not the antithesis either.
According to a Times article, Obama has spent too much time hearkening back to past ills from across the aisle. He has spent more time defending his stance than actually explaining it and acting upon it.
He will lose seats this November. According to the same CNN poll, six in ten men plan on voting Republican this November while women still tend to lean towards the left. However, less women vote than men. The economy is obviously a huge factor. And while Obama has made countless speeches and written countless "ideas," nothing is changing. Only 17% of those in the survey said they feel the economy is beginning to recover. That's not good enough. The economy can't change overnight but a commander-in-chief's job is to walk the people through his decisions every step of the way, tell them what's going on and where we're at, not throw stones at the opposing side and tell the people it's their fault. That doesn't evoke confidence in the situation.
On the bright side however, January is not just a new year, it's a new chance for Obama to forge ahead with something new. The right will still throw stones, but he can't afford to throw them back. As I've said before, Obama isn't what I thought he'd be but he still has a couple of years to prove he's not as bad as we think he is. More of the same, perhaps. More of Bush, fuck no. But he clearly has to prove that to the people, who aren't so sure.