Monday, August 10, 2009

CNN Panelists Give Obama Significantly Higher Marks than Public

The majority of CNN panelists awarded the Obama administration significantly higher marks than the general public on its “CNN National Report Card: Second 100 Days,” according to my analysis. The analysis might serve to challenge CNN’s marketing posture that they are a middle of the road, independent cable news outlet.

CNN has developed an interesting online tool that allows viewers to rate the Obama administration’s performance by issue. Viewers were allowed to vote via Facebook, phone and text message between August 2nd and August 6th.

The public gave the Obama administration a C- for its handling of the economy. CNN personalities Abbi Tatton, Jeffrey Toobin, Gloria Borger, Donna Brazile and Paul Begala all gave the administration a B. David Gergen scored the administration a B+. Bill Bennett and Alex Castellanos, both Republicans, issued the administration a D.

On health care reform, Gergan gave Obama a B, Borger gave him a C+ and Begala gave him an A-. The public issued him a D.

The biggest disparity between the public’s view and CNN’s view appeared when grading the performance of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  All CNN personalities gave her either an A or an A-. The people gave her a C+.

Overall, the public give President Obama a D. The public is no more enthusiastic about the performance of the Republican leadership in Congress.  The public gave them a D, as well.

Topics: cnn, barack-obama