White House Blames Bad Polls On..Well, the Polls

Gallup is probably the most respected polling organization in the country (though Rasmussen is giving them a run for their money). However, they've dared to show falling numbers for The One and The One isn't happy:

The White House lashed out at the Gallup Poll on Tuesday after the survey's daily tracking numbers showed President Obama's approval rating dropping to a new low of 47 percent.

Asked for a response to Monday's tracking poll, which placed Obama's approval numbers among the lowest of any recent president in December of his first year in office, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs mocked the reliability of the widely respected polling firm.

"I tell you, if I was a heart patient and Gallup was my EKG, I'd visit my doctor," Gibbs said. "If you look back, I think five days ago, there was an 11-point spread, now there's a 1-point spread. I mean, I'm sure a 6-year-old with a crayon could do something not unlike that. I don't put a lot of stake in, never have, in the EKG that is the daily Gallup trend."

He added: "I don't pay a lot of attention to the meaninglessness of it."

Gallup's tracking poll showed an uptick in Obama's numbers last week following his speech outlining a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan. But in Monday's polling release, Gallup's Jeffrey M. Jones wrote: "Any slight bump in support Obama received coincident with his new Afghanistan policy proved to be very short-lived, as his approval rating returned to below the majority level by the weekend and slipped further to 47 percent in Dec. 4-6 polling."

UPDATE: Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport responded to Gibbs's Tuesday comments:

"Gibbs said that if Gallup were his EKG, he would visit his doctor. Well, I think the doctor might ask him what's going on in his life that would cause his EKG to be fluctuating so much," Frank Newport wrote in a blog post. "There is, in fact, a lot going on at the moment -- the healthcare bill, the jobs summit, the Copenhagen Climate Conference, and Afghanistan."

Newport also defended the value of the daily tracking poll, arguing that it helps Gallup "closely monitor the ways in which presidential actions are being received by the national constituency."

"Of course, it's not just Gallup that finds this important," he wrote. "I'm sure the White House was just as interested as we were in how the president's major speech at West Point last week played to the American public. Our tracking helped provide the answer."

I like Gallup's response. And Gallup isn't the only poll showing Obama with falling numbers. That's being shown consistently across all polls, even those sponsored by lefty groups.

He's got problems with the American people right now and rather than shoot the messenger he ought to be trying to figure out how to turn those numbers back in this favor.