Angela Merkel 'Firm Favourite' for Nobel Prize over Refugee Crisis - But Losing Favour in Germany

A migrant takes a selfie with German Chancellor Angela Merkel
outside a refugee camp near the Federal Office for Migration and
Refugees after registration at Berlin's Spandau district in
September 2015

THE TELEGRAPH: German Chancellor Angela Merkel emerges as the firm favourite for the 2015 peace prize but faces growing opposition to her refugee policy at home

Speculation is mounting that Angela Merkel will win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her handling of the European refugee crisis and the war in Ukraine, just as public opinion in Germany is hardening on the migrant issue.

The German Chancellor has emerged as the firm favourite for the 2015 peace prize, the winner of which will be announced by the Norwegian Nobel Committee next Friday.

But even as she is lauded on the international stage, Mrs Merkel is facing growing opposition to her refugee policy at home, where her personal approval rating with voters has plummeted nine percentage points in a single month, according to the findings of a new opinion poll. » | Justin Huggler in Berlin | Friday, October 2, 2015

Rove on Obama's Downward Spiral and Voters' Remorse

Jul. 03, 2014 - 5:33 - The real reason voters have turned on President Obama and believe the country would be in better shape if they had elected Mitt Romney

Buyer's Remorse? Poll Says Romney Would Be Better President

Jul. 03, 2014 - 4:39 - Voters believe country would be better off under former Republican challenger

The Folks Turning Against President Obama

Talking Points 11/19

Poll: Bungled ObamaCare Rollout Taking Its Toll on President

Obama'a approval rating hits new low

Barack Obama's Popularity Falls to All-time Low

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: For the first time a majority of Americans think the president is dishonest and untrustworthy

US President Barack Obama's popularity has slumped to an all-time low, with a majority of Americans for the first time believing him to be dishonest and untrustworthy, according to new survey.

The respected Quinnipiac University Poll found that Mr Obama's approval rating had nosedived to the level of unpopularity faced by Republican predecessor George W. Bush at the same stage of his presidency.

Overall, the poll said 54 per cent disapproved of the job Mr Obama was doing against 39 per cent who approved.

The findings mark a significant downturn from an October 1 survey which put Mr Obama's disapproval rating at 49 per cent to 45 per cent approval.

It caps a turbulent few weeks for Mr Obama, whose administration has come under heavy fire for the chaotic roll-out of his signature health care legislation, the Affordable Care Act. Read on and comment » | AFP | Edited by Bonnie Malkin | Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Hollande Most Unpopular French President Ever, Poll Shows

François Hollande

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: François Hollande has become the most unpopular French president on record, an opinion poll showed on Monday, with the Socialist leader hit by anger over tax hikes, unemployment and rows over the government’s immigration policy.

Hollande’s popularity has sunk to 26 per cent of those surveyed, the first time the BVA poll has seen a French president’s approval ratings fall below 30 per cent.

Hollande’s approval rating had started sinking quite soon after he was elected in May, 2012, but this survey shows his popularity lower than that of any other president at any time in their term in the 32 years the BVA survey has been carried out.

This underlines the task facing Hollande and his government in reviving their popularity at a time when record high jobless numbers and wrangling over tax levels have clouded efforts to revitalize a sluggish economy. » | Ingrid Melander | Paris – Reuters | Monday, October 28, 2013

Polls Show British PM Cameron Losing Support
British voters are losing confidence in Prime Minister David Cameron to see them through the economic crisis, according to the latest opinion polls. The leader of the country's coalition government has staked his political reputation on reducing the UK's debt and reforming public finances. A series of blunders, however, has seen the government back-track on some of those measures. Al Jazeera's Harry Smith reports from London.

«Ich der Underdog? Absolut»

TAGES ANZEIGER: Angesichts sinkender Umfragewerte hievt sich Barack Obama im Wahlkampf um die Präsidentschaft in jene Rolle, in der er sich am wohlsten fühlt.

US-Präsident Barack Obama schaut düster ins Wahljahr 2012: Angesichts schlechter Umfragewerte sieht er sich bei den Präsidentenwahlen im November als Aussenseiter gegenüber den Republikanern. Schuld seien die schlechte Wirtschaftslage und die hohe Arbeitslosigkeit, meinte Obama in einem Interview des TV-Senders ABC.

Nach einer neusten Umfrage des Senders meinen 55 Prozent der Amerikaner, dass Obama im November 2012 nicht wiedergewählt wird. Auf die Frage, ob er sich jetzt als Aussenseiter («Underdog») betrachte, sagte Obama: «Absolut.» » | mrs/sda | Dienstag 04. Oktober 2011


ABC NEWS: President Obama: America 'Not Better Off' Today than Four Years Ago » | RUSSELL GOLDMAN (@GoldmanRussell) | Monday, October 03, 2011

Hope and Change? A National Gloom Descends over Obama’s America
TELEGRAPH BLOGS – NILE GARDINER: You know things are really going badly for the White House when even The New York Times, the most powerful bastion of liberalism in America, is warning the president he is in serious trouble. Today’s New York Times/CBS News poll makes devastating reading for Barack Obama’s advisers, showing the nation’s mood at its lowest level for two years:

Americans are more pessimistic about the nation’s economic outlook and overall direction than they have been at any time since President Obama’s first two months in office, when the country was still officially ensnared in the Great Recession, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Amid rising gas prices, stubborn unemployment and a cacophonous debate in Washington over the federal government’s ability to meet its future obligations, the poll presents stark evidence that the slow, if unsteady, gains in public confidence earlier this year that a recovery was under way are now all but gone… Disapproval of Mr. Obama’s handling of the economy has never been broader — at 57 percent of Americans — a warning sign as he begins to set his sights on re-election in 2012.

According to the poll, a staggering 70 percent of Americans believe the country is moving down the “wrong track”, nearly three times more than the number who believe it is heading in the “right direction” (26 percent). 39 percent believe the economy is getting worse, 16 points higher than the number who think it is getting better, and 59 percent disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the federal budget deficit. Read on and comment » | Nile Gardiner | Friday, April 22, 2011

Why President Obama Is Mr. Unpopular
TIME: TIME White House correspondent Michael Scherer analyzes President Obama's dwindling public support and its effect on the midterm elections

Barack Obama Finally Makes His Peace with Bill Clinton
THE TELEGRAPH: With his approval ratings plummeting and his party facing a pummeling in crucial elections, President Barack Obama has turned for salvation to the man who was until recently his harshest Democratic critic - Bill Clinton.

President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton. Photo: The Telegraph
Mr Obama is forging a fragile partnership with his bitter adversary from the 2008 presidential race in the hope of dragging his presidency out of the doldrums and salvaging Democratic prospects in a bleak campaign season.

With his time in the White House linked for many Americans to an era of economic boom, Mr Clinton will be dispatched to campaign in key states where Democratic candidates regard Mr Obama as a political liability.

A senior Clinton advisor recently sat down with Obama aides to map out the strategy to support "endangered" Democratic candidates as the party battles to retain its majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate in November.

It is a dramatic transformation from the hostilities of 2008 when Mr Clinton was often reduced to red-faced rants as an unbridled cheerleader for his wife Hillary in her acrimonious battle with Mr Obama for the Democratic nomination.

As The Sunday Telegraph revealed the former president was so furious with the way that he was portrayed by the rival camp, particularly his belief that that they had portrayed him as racist, that he told friends that Mr Obama could "kiss my ass" in return for his support.

Mr Obama for his part ran his campaign against Mrs Clinton on the mantra that he was overturning "politics as usual" – a barely-veiled dig at the Clintonian style of operations.

There was an uneasy truce before the general election in November 2008 and Mr Clinton delivered a handful of set-piece speeches for the Democratic nominee before focusing on his philanthropic work.

But two years is an eternity in politics – as Mr Obama can testify after seeing his sky-high popularity ratings slide inexorably in the meantime. >>> Philip Sherwell in New York | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Barack Obama Needs to Find His Voice
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama's inability to articulate his plans has generated the sense of a presidency on the verge of failure, writes Alex Spillius.

Buried deep in yet another poll this week cataloguing Barack Obama's declining popularity in his home country was an intriguing nugget of opinion.

Democracy Corps, a Left-leaning research firm, found that 55 per cent of Americans think the world "socialist" fittingly describes their president.

By most received definitions, this is absurd. If socialism is a belief that the means of production and distribution should be owned collectively or by central government, then Obama is no more a socialist than Ronald Reagan ever was.

The reason for this apparent aberration may be that interpretations of the term in the US are much broader than in Europe, where there is some experience of socialism. For some Americans, it means anyone who believes in increased state spending.

But if Obama isn't a socialist, what is he? It is strange to report, but after 19 months of living under his presidency, Americans are still not sure. It is a big part of his problem. >>> Alex Spillius - American Way | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Obama Loses the Left: Suddenly, It's Cool to Bash Barack
THE TELEGRAPH: Europe still worships him and Washington's Obamatrons remain smitten, but former supporters are turning on the President, writes Toby Harnden.

President Barack Obama presents Paul McCartney with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at the White House. Photograph: The Telegraph
Well, at least he's still got Sir Paul McCartney. At the White House last week, the 67-year-old crooner was gushing in much the same manner as his own groupies did at Shea Stadium in 1965. "I'm a big fan, he's a great guy," McCartney told American critics of President Barack Obama. "So lay off him, he's doing great."

Later, McCartney serenaded the First Lady with a rendition of Michelle and, receiving a prize from the Library of Congress, took a cheap shot at President George W Bush that was as unfunny as it was unoriginal. “After the last eight years, it’s great to have a president who knows what a library is.” Bush. Doesn’t read books. Stupid. Geddit?

The problem for the President is that even if the former Beatle does speak for billions, the overwhelming majority of those are overseas. Polls show that around 10 per cent of those who voted for Obama in 2008 now disapprove of his performance and the heavy turnout of young people and black voters among the 69 million who back him will not be repeated again.

McCartney's banalities were an example of a transatlantic dissonance that is all too apparent these days. Whereas Europe is stuck in November 2008 and still hopelessly in love with Obama, Americans have got over the historic symbolism of it all and are now moving on as they live with the reality.

That reality has now begun to dawn on some of Obama's natural constituency - Hollywood and the Left. The "no drama Obama" demeanour that served him so well on the campaign trail is now becoming a liability. >>> Toby Harnden | Saturday, June 05, 2010

Chris Grayling: Support For Conservatives Among Gays Drops Sharply After B&B Row
THE TELEGRAPH: Support for the Tories among the gay community has fallen sharply after the row about turning away gay couples from bed and breakfast establishments.

A poll conducted by the website PinkNews.co.uk found that support for the Conservative party had 'fallen markedly' among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender readers after the comments from Chris Grayling. Photograph: The Telegraph
Chris Grayling, the shadow Home secretary, was under fire at the weekend after it emerged that he had said bed and breakfasts run by Christians should be allowed to turn away gay couples because of their sexuality.

A poll conducted by the website PinkNews.co.uk found that support for the Conservative party had “fallen markedly” among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender readers after the comments.

It found that just 20 per cent in a survey of 1,193 gay men and women would vote Conservative at the next general election, down from 25 per cent last month.

In the poll support for Labour remained unchanged at 28 per cent, while support for the Liberal Democrats increased by 5 per cent to 29 per cent.

The survey also found that 30 per cent of its readers felt “less favourably” towards Mr Cameron following an interview in which he was unable to answer questions about the decision to give MPs and peers a free vote issues relating to gay rights.

A spokesman for PinkNews.co.uk said: "Just one difficult interview has[,] it appears[,] seen a significant drop in the support that the Conservative party and Mr Cameron in particular has enjoyed within the gay community." >>> | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy to Bury the Hatchet
THE TELEGRAPH: He was the only Western leader who refused to join the scramble to ingratiate himself with Barack Obama.

Irritated by hysteria surrounding the newcomer, Nicolas Sarkozy spent the year after his election issuing veiled insults and patronising digs.

Elysée officials briefed behind the scenes that the US president was a "cold fish", telling Le Figaro that "relations were easier with Bush".

He went on to deride Mr Obama's calls for a nuclear weapons-free world as "naive" and bragged that while he had enacted a cascade of reforms, his US counterpart had placed "all his bets on one" by concentrating on health care. As he rode high in the polls, the French president even crowed that Mr Obama had "lost three elections" since taking office.

The insults were so regular that Mr Obama responded by turning down an invitation to the Elysée after the commemoration of the Normandy landings last June.

But after suffering wipeout in local elections this month and facing speculation that his marriage is on the rocks, Mr Sarkozy has suddenly found the tables have turned. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, March 29, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy's approval ratings sink to lowest ever: French President Nicolas Sarkozy's approval ratings have sunk to their lowest level since his election in May 2007, a poll has shown. >>> | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Barack Obama's Approval Rating Drops to 46 Per Cent
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama yesterday delayed a trip to Asia amid falling approval ratings and grave doubts that his 11th hour attempt to push health care reform through Congress will succeed.

A new poll by Gallup showed Mr Obama's approval rating at a record low of 46 per cent since taking office. In the optimistic early days of his presidency 69 per cent approved of the job he was doing.

Doubts about his ability to pass his flagship domestic policy have affected his popularity among Democratic supporters, while independents and Republicans have grown wary of health care reform as an expensive government venture.

Mr Obama had set Democratic leaders in Congress a deadline of March 18 to coral the votes necessary to pass health care without any support from Republicans, by using a procedure known as budget reconciliation. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Friday, March 12, 2010

Zogby: Obama Hits Record Low in Poll
NEWSMAX: President Barack Obama's popularity has plummeted to a record low, with just 45 percent of voters now approving of his performance, according to the latest Zogby International poll.

Asked whether they approve or disapprove of the president's job performance, just 45.3 percent of likely voters say they approve. That compares with 50.5 percent who disapprove of the job Obama is doing.

The results are a strong indication that contentious national debate over healthcare reform has taken a major toll on the president's popularity. >>> David A. Patten | Thursday, August 20, 2009

Obama’s Ratings Fall Back to Earth
THE SUNDAY TIMES: OFFICIALS insisted it was not a crisis meeting, but President Barack Obama and members of his cabinet had plenty to worry about as they ended a two-day retreat devoted to discussions of the administration’s faltering progress.

Plummeting opinion poll ratings, divisions among Democrats about healthcare reform and distracting rows about Wall Street bonuses, economic stimulus programmes and racial politics all cast a shadow over the beginning of Washington’s summer recess.

Obama and vice-president Joe Biden left the White House on foot on Friday evening to spend four hours at Blair House, a government guesthouse across the road, where all 22 cabinet members and several senior aides discussed policy over dinner. >>> Tony Allen-Mills in Washington | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Nicolas Sarkozy: The Problem with the President
THE INDEPENDENT: He swaggered into the Elysée Palace on a promise to reinvent France for the 21st century. But after just eight months, Nicolas Sarkozy's popularity is plummeting – and his personal life is becoming a soap opera. Is he up to the job? John Lichfield reports

Tuesday, 12 February 2008

Imagine, for a moment, President Charles de Gaulle in dark glasses and dark roll-top jumper sitting at a café terrace in Versailles with his newly married pop-singer wife.Imagine also le Général in open-neck shirt and jeans on an Egyptian holiday. The tall, austere saviour of France is walking, hand in hand, with Mick Jagger's ex-girlfriend. Her small son sits on his shoulders, looking embarrassed.

Imagine, for a moment, President Jacques Chirac in the Vatican, fiddling compulsively with the buttons of his mobile phone as his companions are being presented to the Pope. The presidential entourage includes, incidentally, France's most vulgar and foul-mouthed comedian, Jean-Marie Bigard, a kind of Gallic Bernard Manning.

Imagine, for a moment, President François Mitterrand receiving ministerial visits to his office in the Elysée Palace with his feet up on his desk. Worse, imagine the suave, icy President Mitterrand addressing almost everyone he meets with the familiar "tu", instead of the dignified and respectful "vous".

In his eight months as French head of state, Nicolas Sarkozy has done all these things and more. Genres have been confused, values muddled, conventions trampled, traditions overturned.

President Sarkozy promised last year to reinvent France for the 21st century, while preserving, or rekindling, "traditional values". He has started by reinventing – or, some say, desecrating – the French presidency. Nicolas Sarkozy: The problem with the president >>> By John Lichfield

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