President Barack Obama doesn’t hit his 100th day in office until Wednesday, April 29, but Democrats are starting the celebration early.
The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday will distribute a minute-long video, created in-house, called “100 Days of No,” showing various Republican congressional leaders sounding obstructionist.
The White House, anxious to prolong the president’s honeymoon, has rejected the 100-days construct, a media concoction that dates to former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Obama aides deride the convention as a “Hallmark holiday,” so the DNC spot is the first official acknowledgment of the milestone.
The on-screen text: “After 100 days, the Republican approach is ‘just saying no’ … Almost All Republicans Voted NO On Fair Pay For Women … All But 3 Republicans Voted NO On Economic Recovery ... All Republicans Voted NO On The President's Budget / Affordable Health Care / Creating Green Jobs / Reforming Education / Halving The Deficit … 100 DAYS OF NO.”
Republicans contend they are trying to save taxpayers money and rein in mushrooming government power.
Although the outcome of Obama’s ambitious agenda for Congress is unknown, he can count one certain victory: In poll after poll, the number of people who feel the country is going in the right direction has soared since his inauguration – a much greater increase than recorded by any of his four most recent predecessors.
For instance, the Washington Post-ABC News Poll published on the newspaper’s front page on March 31 found:
“The percentage of Americans in the new poll who said the country is on the right track still stands at just 42 percent, but that is the highest percentage saying so in five years and marks a sharp turnabout from last fall, when as many as nine in 10 said the country was heading in the wrong direction. Fifty-seven percent now consider the nation as moving on the wrong track.”
That was a 21-point improvement since mid-January.
Although other presidents have had similar approval ratings at 100 days, the improvement in the right-track measure was much more dramatic than under former Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush.
