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 People Think Something That We Know Is Knowingly Untrue - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 8/21/09 — Wednesday, September 02, 2009 —  Q Following up on Bill's question, the Post poll this morning has 49 percent of the country believes the President can and will make the right decision; that's down from 60 at the 100-day mark. Fifty-five percent in the poll -- I know it's just one poll -- pretty seriously believe the country is on the wrong track. And I'm just wondering if the White House --MR. GIBBS: I think that's down significantly -- what was that number in November of last year? Q I can't tell you. I don't know. MR. GIBBS: I think it was in the 70s, but go ahead. Q It's different than it was in January or February, in a negative sense. I'm just wondering if you have any -- or the White House has any anxiety that the broader health care debate is not just changing the numbers possibly temporarily on the health care question, but is having a material effect on the way the entire presidency is being viewed, and the way the public retains confidence in the presidency. MR. GIBBS: Look, the short answer would be no based on the fact that one of the numbers you didn't discuss is the President, in that poll, his overall approval rating is at 57 percent -- a fairly healthy number for a President's approval rating. But -- Q -- gave you all the numbers you'd have nothing to say. MR. GIBBS: I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to fill in what's left. Look, I think the President would be the first to tell you, as he said throughout this, that this is a complex issue and that health care reform has never been easy and that this process is one that is messy. I don't doubt that -- look, if you look and just -- if you ask people -- again, going back to some of these other polling -- if you're seeing information that as a result of this bill 55 percent of the American people believe illegal immigrants are going to get health care as a result of this bill, despite the fact that the bill prohibits that -- I don't doubt that that weighs down on people's perception of the bill if a majority of the people think something that we know is knowingly untrue and that if people continue to hear that, something that's knowingly untrue is repeated. Q Well, I wasn't driving nearly so much as the poll numbers on health care itself, but on the overall view of the presidency and his ability to bring change or be effective or retain the confidence of the American people, because there is some indication that the numbers have dipped here, during the intensity of this health care debate. I'm just asking you, is there a broader effect here on the White House? MR. GIBBS: Look, we'll continue to evaluate that, but I'll tell you, Major, whether it's looking at -- I think you can look at any poll before the President made a decision about extending money to the automobile companies so they didn't go out of business -- not necessarily the most popular thing. Increasing our troop strength in Afghanistan wasn't necessarily the most popular thing. Those are decisions, though, that the President believes was in the best interest -- in the automobile decision, about the economy; in the Afghanistan decision, about our national security and ultimately in our national interest. So we'll certainly continue to look at them, but the President will continue to make decisions on what he believes is important and the steps that have to be taken on the economy or on our national security or on health care based on what he thinks is in the country's best interest. Whether or not it starts out or at the midpoint is less popular, that's our job to fix. Obama Administration | Polls | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Obama Administration, Polls, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 3:17:00 PM
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