Why Polls Don't Matter, Part 2

Poll: Most Americans Back Obama on Stimulus, Mortgage Plans screams the headline on Memeorandum regarding a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Survey Reveals Broad Support for President says the New York Times about the NYT-CBS News poll.

I'm always fascinated at the chattering classes who live and die by the latest twist in polling data. OMG! Obama's approval fell from 70 to 63 percent in a month! More Americans approve of the way Democrats handled the stimulus bill than the way Republicans did! More Americans want less government spending but approve of the porkapalooza!

We spent eight years under Bill Clinton with schizophrenic leadership because Clinton governed by polls. One of the reasons many people voted for George W. Bush in 2000, in fact, was because he promised to be a decider. Now, apparently, we're back to governing by the latest whim of the American people.

I'm sure this seems like a smart thing to some, but at a time of economic crisis, responding to the latest polling data gives you the spectacle of Barack Obama promising to cut his deficit to a record level by the end of his term after passing the largest pork project bill in history.

I'm not impressed by the numbers for Obama. People are anxious for the POTUS to succeed, particularly after Teh One has spent three months scaring the public about the economy. Let's look at his ratings in a few months when his policies have taken affect.