Charlie Cook: “President Obama’s allies are alternately wincing over,
or shaking their heads at, the troubled rollout of the Affordable Care
Act and its website, as well as disclosures that U.S. intelligence
agencies spied on some of our closest allies. Many of the president’s
supporters are probably wishing they could avoid watching news programs
altogether, hoping the damaging reports will just go away.”
“Doubts about competence inflict damage, particularly if they are followed by other incidents that reinforce those doubts and by a vigilant opposition party flagging these miscues, as Republicans can be counted on to do here. Doubts about competence eat at enthusiasm among your base and alienate the moderates and independents who are really the ones determining whether a president has strong job-approval ratings (and note that high ratings translate into clout on Capitol Hill and, to a certain extent, around the world).”
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