'Professional Left' Still Loyal to Obama

A straw poll of liberal activists at the annual Netroots Nation conference found that 80 percent of still "approve" or "strongly approve" of President Barack Obama. Roll Call reports:

A straw poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research showed that 80 percent either approve or strongly approve of the president more than a year before voters head to the polls to decide whether he deserves a second term. The results broke down to 27 percent strongly approving of Obama and 53 percent approving “somewhat.” Thirteen percent said they “somewhat disapprove,” and 7 percent strongly disapprove of the president.

The poll of 519 people was conducted via iPad in the Minneapolis Convention Center on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Two-thirds of the respondents said they want Obama to focus on job growth. “Protecting health care” was the distant runner-up, with 9 percent of respondents saying that should be Obama’s top priority.

Perhaps this isn't too surprising. As Jay Cost pointed out last week, Obama's standing in the Democratic party writ large is much better than, say, Jimmy Carter's in 1979. Liberals still like Obama, especially in comparison to any Republican that might be nominated to run against him. And that overrides any concern liberals might have over Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, presidential signing statements, the Bush-era tax cuts and his administration's castigation of the "professional left."