- Pronouns
- he / him / his
Written by HEM Tiberius
Normally many politicians have suffered from voter fatigue this far into the term, and President Earth22 is no exception. Where the exception lay is in how little her numbers have dipped since the last election. Currently her approval rating sits at 72% which is certainly a vast contrast to the approval rating of the Europeian Senate which is only at a soft 48%, with the bulk of the results in between 30 - 60%.
"This time last year, the extent to which partisan politics would have played in these polls is astronomical," Professor Paul Krugman says, "The changes that have occurred in Europeia are amazing. And I doubt there has been such a turnaround since the United States' Republican Party abandoned moderatism and reason in the early 1970s."
Running against a generic opponent, 68.5% of Europeia would vote to re-elect President Earth. 21% are unsure, while 10.5% would definitely vote for someone else. "Having only 11% or so of the population solidly against you is...not a bad base at all," Wolfe Blitzer comments, "It's clear that there is a natural affinity that the region has for the President, and that translates in this polling sample."
When placing her name against anyone else though, Earth does perform poorer at the polls. She would only narrowly beat recently retired Grand Admiral Oliver Dion Grey in a 53-47 race. Polls have he beating former President Common Sense Politics by a 58-42 margin, and she creams former Presidents Anumia and PhDre in 74-26 and 79-21 races respectively.
"When we aren't sure who will run," Blitzer says, "It's easy to place her up against former holders of her office. These statesmen are generally known and it can gauge how people feel about her compared to her predecessors. All in all, very good news for the incumbent."
The only politician who would beat Earth, actually isn't a former President at all. Skizzy Grey would defeat Earth22 with 58% of the vote compared to 42% of the vote. Though this matchup is not considered that likely.
"I don't think her own Vice President would run against her," former United Kingdom Prime Minister and ENN contributor John Major says, "I don't think Skizzy Grey runs against her. I don't think that most of the former retired crustacean Presidents run against her. I think what her opponents should worry about is that these are the big leaguers -- the elder statesmen and such -- and by and large they are being kicked around the softball field by her."
Perhaps there are two cautionary tales with this data however. "I think two arguments to be made are margin of error and the current political atmosphere," Krugman continues, "People have a few complaints with the executive but they are not being magnified to the extent that they would have been a year ago. I think that most anger is being directed at the polarizing legislature at the moment, and that despite...not really being active communicators, the Goldenblock has gotten away with a free lunch because the ship has been sailing. When we get closer to elections opponents will raise issues, and they will have their own platform. Essentially, we have an incumbent name -- a big one -- running against other names on pieces of paper."
"I actually agree with Krugman here," Major says, "I don't think Oliver Grey came close to earth because of his work as President, but because of his current work as Admiral. It was a visibility contest, and no matter who runs against her, I doubt we will see these kind of margins."
Indeed, two factors that help Earth is an easier political atmosphere (1) and lack of a constant opposition (2). As an opponent defines themselves, these numbers should come back to...dare we say it...'earth'.
"Margin of error is another discussion," Professor Krugman adds, "This poll had 19 responders, which could be about 1/2 of the electorate. We don't know who voted and who didn't. Indeed, there are numbers later in the poll including the viability of a new forum issue, or how legalistic Europeia is, that makes a big case for this poll being made up of older and more veteran members."
On other issues, 58% of Europeians see the region as stronger than 6 months ago. 32% see the region as stagnate while only 11% see the region as worse off.
58-42 the region believes that new ideas are generally not accepted within the region although 42-32 with 26% unsure the data suggests that Europeia does not think it is too complicated or legalistic for new members.
Perhaps one of the most controversial issues, 37-37 the region is split as to whether allow the City Council to have one Senate vote as proposed by Councilor HEM. 26% are unsure on the issue.
79-21 the region believes that Europeia should not consider zetaboards, while none polled suggested changing to a forum where posts could not be retained.
Finally, in one of the most pressing issues of the day, 21% of the region misses former Autokrator and Europeian Emperor, Joseph II. 37% do not, while the remainder issue some sort of bizarre profanity at the suggestion of the question.
