Showing posts with label Public image of Barack Obama. Show all posts

Tuesday, 11 January 2011

Gabrielle Giffords' Shooting: The Impact on Obama's Presidency

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Saturday’s shooting spree could prove a turning point in the Obama presidency. Jonathan Alter on how the White House should talk about the tragedy—and the echoes of Clinton at Oklahoma City. Plus, full coverage of the Arizona shooting.

President Obama is off to a good start in his handling of what the networks are now calling “The Tragedy in Tucson.” The moment of silence he asked for on Monday at 11 a.m.—resonant for older Americans of the exact hour on November 11 each year that the World War I Armistice was once observed—is an appropriate expression of what we need right now: Less Noise.

But silence will not be enough. This horrific event offers the president a chance to show leadership qualities that he’s inexplicably hidden away in some blind trust. The shootings and the resulting debate over the climate of incivility play to his strengths as a calm and rational leader. Just as Bill Clinton’s response to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings helped him recover from his defeat in the 1994 midterms, so this episode may help Obama change—at least in the short term--the trajectory of American politics.

Clinton did more than just speak movingly after Oklahoma City and pull the country together as griever-in-chief. He was able to use the event to discredit the militia movement and tamp down hate speech on talk radio enough that it wasn't much of a factor in his 1996 reelection. The Oklahoma City bombings were later seen by historians and Clinton-era officials as the turning point in his political comeback. Of course the viciousness of the attacks eventually resumed (especially after the Lewinsky scandal) but they weren’t as fierce again until the Obama years.

“The words we use really do matter,” Clinton said, reflecting on the Oklahoma City bombing. “There’s this vast echo chamber, and they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike.”

Looking back last spring on the 15th anniversary of the bombings, Clinton offered useful perspective. “The words we use really do matter,” he said. “There’s this vast echo chamber, and they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike.” That’s the critical point in assigning indirect blame for Tucson. We can never know exactly what hate speech produces, but why risk its interaction with underlying mental illness?

Whether or not he attends the funerals for the Tucson victims, Obama’s big chance to lead will come in his State of the Union address on January 25. He can both to speak to the moment thematically and confront the substantive concerns raised by the tragedy.

• Shushannah Walshe: Palin’s Other Arizona ‘Targets’• Peter Beinart: The Tea Party’s Terror Blind Spot• Full coverageConservatives like to argue that these are isolated incidents carried out by lunatics and therefore carry no big lessons (unless the perpetrator is Muslim, in which case it’s terrorism); liberals view them as opportunities to address various social ills. Obama is in the latter category and should act accordingly. “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” Rahm Emanuel famously said in 2008. The same goes for a shooting spree that gravely wounds a beloved congresswoman. Congress won’t enact gun control, as it did in the wake of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, but perhaps something positive can come from this.

The State of the Union will almost certainly begin with heart-wrenching symbolism. Ever since Ronald Reagan put a “citizen hero,” Lenny Skutnik, in the balcony of the House chamber after he rescued passengers from the wreck of an Air Florida jet that crashed in the freezing Potomac River in 1982, American presidents have all used their State of the Unions speeches to honor their own “Skutniks,” as they’ve come to be called in Washington. This year will be no different. At least one or two people connected to the horrific incident (The 20-year-old office intern who heroically applied triage to Gabrielle Giffords? A relative of slain federal judge John Roll?) will undoubtedly sit with Michelle Obama at the speech. And it’s hard to imagine that the poignant birth date of 9-year-old Christina Taylor Greene, September 11, 2001, will escape mention.

From there Obama and his speechwriters will try to set the incident in context. This won’t be easy. As I wrote last week, he needs to govern more in poetry than he has thus far. But if the prose is too purple, it falls flat. If he over-analyzes the tragedy, he risks seeming to middle-of-the-roaders as if he’s politicizing it. (The Right will think that in any event). And if he even implies a direct connection between the words and websites of politicians and the twisted mind of Jared Lee Loughner, he’s asking for trouble.

The president’s overall goal should be to champion civility and convince partisans to at least think twice before over-heating their rhetoric. It will be interesting to gauge the applause on the GOP side of the chamber if he extends the critique to talk radio, where the incitement has been the most conspicuous.

The parts of the speech about the tone of public debate—the use of violent imagery by both Republicans and Democrats, including Obama himself—may be among the most important words of his presidency. If he executes properly, he could simultaneously help the country heal and set the parameters of what’s permissible in our politics. The memory of Judge Roll, little Christina and the other victims (Obama will likely name them all, as he did with a much longer list of the dead at Fort Hood) will be powerful. But because Giffords is a member of the House, the references to her will have special resonance inside the chamber. “In the years that some of my colleagues have served—20,30 years—they’ve never seen it like this,” Giffords told MSNBC last March. I’d be amazed if Obama didn’t quote her in his speech.

Eventually the president will pivot away from the tragedy to the main sections of his speech, which, as usual, will include a description of national problems and a list of legislative priorities. While the focus will be on economic growth, other issues will get airtime. Even here the Tucson shootings can be relevant.

Judge Roll, an appointee of George H.W. Bush, spoke out publicly about the 100 unfilled vacancies on the federal bench, the result mostly of a dysfunctional Senate confirmation process. He felt that drug and immigration cases weren’t being heard because there aren’t enough judges. Obama should use Roll’s own words to prod the Senate to action.

Any hard look at the Tucson case suggests that the real cause of the tragedy was untreated mental illness. When Loughner was thrown out of Pima Community College, officials there told his parents he needed mental evaluation. But state and federal mental health budgets are on the chopping block. Obama should ask whether that makes sense and seek more funding.

Finally, the president should speak out forthrightly for better enforcement of existing gun control laws, which the gun lobby is always fighting to undermine. He should re-state his support of Andrew Traver to be head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF). The NRA is currently blocking the nomination because Traver once had the temerity to serve as an adviser to a police association on its gun violence reduction program. Obama can reiterate his (and Giffords’) support for the 2nd Amendment while using this chance to make a case for common sense gun control.

Even if he makes a good speech, the president may find that the memory of the Tucson tragedy fades quickly. Sad to say, if Giffords had died, she would have been mourned and soon the conversation would have moved on. But Giffords lives, thank God, which offers other possibilities. We won’t know for weeks or months whether she can function in public. If she can, she will prove a powerful referee of the boundaries of public discourse—more influential, perhaps, than the president himself.

Jonathan Alter is a national correspondent for Newsweek and an analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. He is the author of “The Promise: President Obama, Year One,” a New York Times bestseller being published this week in paperback with a new epilogue.

thedailybeast.com.

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Wednesday, 20 October 2010

CAPITAL CULTURE: Obama aide a constant amid change

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In a no-drama White House on the brink of big changes, there will remain a constant — Valerie Jarrett, longtime friend and trusted adviser to President Barack Obama.

While others in Obama's inner circle will leave the White House this year or shift to new responsibilities, Jarrett says she already has the job she wants: senior adviser to the president, White House liaison to outside groups and perhaps the only person left in Washington short of the president himself whose belief in the promise of hope and change remains unshaken.

Obama's detractors may dismiss his "Yes We Can" mantra as showing a naivete about the ways of Washington. Even many of his supporters now show symptoms of hope-and-change fatigue.

But Jarrett, a successful businesswoman who cut her political teeth in Chicago's city hall, can hardly be described as naive. As White House emissary to cities, states and minority groups, she hears the frustrations of Americans more directly than any other senior staffer.

Jarrett is the only woman within the president's tightest cadre of trusted advisers. And having formed a deep bond with the president and first lady Michelle Obama over nearly two decades, she might be the only one in the room who knows what the president is really thinking.

Jarrett's critics have dismissed her standing in the White House as simply an extension of that friendship, painting her as more of a confidant and less of a substantive policy adviser. It's an assumption her supporters say is oversimplified at best and insulting at worst.

"The president trusts her," said former White House communications director Anita Dunn. "But he also trusts her to get the job done."

Jarrett's turf extends to a vast array of issues and her responsibilities are far-reaching. She is the go-to person in the White House for state and local officials, the business community, women and minority groups, and her job is to represent these varied interests to the president.

Outreach is often symbolic, meaning success and failure can't always be easily measured — at least not in the short term. But Jarrett, 53, has been at the center of some of the administration's most sensitive engagement efforts.

When business leaders accused the president of being anti-business in the midst of the economic crisis, it was Jarrett, a former CEO of a real estate development firm and Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Stock Exchange, who invited small groups of executives in for a series of informal lunches to ease the tension.

Obama asked Jarrett to reach out to another critical audience earlier this month and speak to gay and lesbian advocates, who have criticized Obama for being too slow to fulfill his promises. Amid a spate of recent suicides among gay and lesbian youth, Jarrett assured the community that they had supporters in the White House.

And during the height of the Gulf oil spill, Obama tasked Jarrett with being the White House liaison to the Gulf Coast governors — all Republicans, plus Florida's Charlie Crist, a Republican-turned-independent. Jarrett approached the assignment with her trademark style — understated, empathetic and organized — holding morning conference calls with the governors every day for three months, and traveling frequently to the region.

Her work won her the rarest of victories in the current political climate: praise from Republicans.

"She is probably the most effective person I've ever had the opportunity to work with in a White House," Alabama's Republican Gov. Bob Riley said.

Riley said he may disagree on politics with Jarrett. But he recognized that she put in the time to fully understand the needs of the region, and take its concerns to the president

Jarrett speaks with a soft but precise voice, but is highly protective of her public image. She declined to be interviewed for this article.

When she speaks publicly, she often focuses on her admiration for the president's agenda and of what a "luxury" it is for her to contribute. She's also regularly seen, if not heard, standing at the president's side when the cameras are rolling.

Those close to Jarrett say the president's trust in her is built into their shared vision of hope and change to increase the diversity of voices within the government, and the voices that the government listens to when shaping policy.

Behind Jarrett's wonky title — assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs and public engagement — is a portfolio tailored to that mission. Her focus is policy, not politics, a mandate formalized by the decision to separate her offices from the political affairs unit, where they were under previous administrations.

Like Obama, Jarrett brings a unique background to the White House. She was born in Shiraz, Iran, where her American parents lived while her father helped start a hospital as part of a program that sent U.S. doctors to developing countries. Jarrett also spent part of her childhood in London before her family moved to Chicago.

Jarrett first met the Obamas in 1991, when she wanted to hire a young lawyer to join Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's administration. But first the candidate, then named Michelle Robinson, wanted Jarrett to meet her fiance, Barack Obama.

After the three met for dinner, Jarrett hired the future first lady and quickly assumed the role of mentor to the Obamas, advising them on their careers and introducing them to many of the Chicago political and social elite that would go on to play a role in the presidential campaign.

The understanding that Jarrett, perhaps more than anyone else in the White House besides the first lady, has the president's ear has drawn praise and raised questions.

"People certainly know that she's close to the president and it reassures them that they're talking to somebody who is the president's eyes and ears," said Cecilia Munoz, who serves under Jarrett as the director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Yet friends say she's sensitive to criticism that her deep loyalty to Obama would keep her from giving him unvarnished advise or lead her to block out those who would. She goes to great lengths to avoid any appearance that she's using their friendship to overstep her bounds as an adviser.

"We work very hard to compartmentalize," Jarrett said during a recent appearance on ABC's "The View." Jarrett said she calls Obama "Mr. President" during the workday, but "when we're out of the office and we're just having dinner or something, then I talk his ear off and I'm just Valerie Jarrett."

Colleagues say Jarrett is intent on ensuring that there are many voices speaking to president, including White House staffers outside his inner circle. It's not uncommon for her to ask junior staffers to present their memos to the president directly rather than through her. And she's taken a particular interest in White House women, holding monthly dinners to discuss their concerns and urging the president to appoint more women to senior positions.

Underlying her approach, those close to Jarrett say, is a level of confidence — in the president and in herself — that allows her to feel comfortable opening doors for others, while being unconcerned about her own next step. When her name was raised as a possible replacement for former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, it was Jarrett who took her name off the list.

"I would like to just do what I'm doing," she said.
By JULIE PACE, Associated Press Writer

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CAPITAL CULTURE: Obama aide a constant amid change

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Barack Obama 'will not visit Golden Temple over Muslim photo fears'

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Barack Obama has reportedly abandoned plans to visit Amritsar's Golden Temple during his visit next month to India over fears photographs of him with his head covered would revive false claims that he is a Muslim.

Members of Mr Obama's White House team reportedly visited India last month and told Indian officials they were concerned that if the president wore the traditional headscarf during a visit to the Golden Temple, the photographs might be used to portray him as a Muslim, according to the New Delhi-based Indian Express.

Members of Mr Obama's White House team reportedly visited India last month and told Indian officials they were concerned that if the president wore the traditional headscarf during a visit to the Golden Temple, the photographs might be used to portray him as a Muslim, according to the New Delhi-based Indian Express.

Mr Obama, whose father was a non-observant Muslim, has been dogged by rumours regarding his faith since his battle for the Democratic presidential nomination against Hillary Clinton in 2008. He has highlighted the fact that his middle name is Hussein at times to boost his credibility abroad since becoming president.

In August, a poll conducted by Time magazine found that almost one in four Americans thought he was a follower of Islam. The results came days after he waded into the dispute over controversial plans to build a mosque near the site of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York.

Temple sources said on Tuesday three teams of officials from the US embassy in New Delhi had visited them in the last six weeks but they were unaware there was any concern over wearing a headscarf.

According to the Express, one American official had told his Indian counterparts that Mr Obama had to remind the United States "each day that he should not be mistaken for Muslim just because his middle name is Hussein."

A compromise was reportedly explored in which the president might wear a "modified baseball cap" but it is unclear whether this would have been acceptable to Sikh traditionalists.

The temple's head priest Giani Gurbachan Singh was quoted saying a baseball cap would not be allowed, but Dalmir Singh, secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee, the Sikh governing body, said the president could wear anything to cover his head.

"Whatever he wishes to wear, he can. Our concern is to make sure he does. We don't have problem even if he wears a baseball cap or Muslim skull cap. We are all set to welcome him. It will a great honour. If the visit is cancelled just because of American politics, its will be disheartening," he said.

But according to Indian officials, plans to visit Amritsar have been abandoned because of "logistical" problems.

A spokesman for the American Embassy in New Delhi said no plans to visit Amritsar had ever been announced and there would be no comment on whether wearing a headscarf had been a consideration. "We are not in a position to say whether there was a discussion about it," she said.

Mr Obama last month spoke at length about his faith during a visit to New Mexico when he was asked why he was a Christian. The president said he had chosen Christianity as an adult because "the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead – being my brothers' and sisters' keeper, treating others as they would treat me," Mr Obama said, adding that his public service is "part of that effort to express my Christian faith."

By Dean Nelson in New Delhi (telegraph)

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Wednesday, 13 October 2010

Barack Obama George W. Bush Conflicting Christian Visions

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A while back I wrote a nasty quadpome about George W. Bush. I have been writing steadily for almost three years about Barack Obama. But I just put one and one together today. George W. Bush and
Barack Obama can be understood as two sides of the same faith. And oddly enough this may explain more about George W. Bush than Barack Obama.

Here's how it goes. I cast George W. Bush as a quasi-evangelical, 12-step inclined, knee-jerkishly fundamentalist Christian. Hold that thought. I cast Barack Obama as what he says he was and is, more the follower of a way that he derives from the words and teachings of Jesus than the sort who would really be moved, as W might, by a praise song or by the testimony of a true-believing Jesus-saves Christian.

With George W. Bush you need to add in the preppy privilege Andover Yale thing, which more or less got modified when life dealt him the blow of alcoholism. It left him with an easy manner and utterly no embarrassment at all about this or that gaffe. We preppies can make all the gaffes we want, thank you.

With Barack Obama you need to add in a formidable back story that he has already told, from which I would take both the emptiness of an undefined identity and the almost nihilistic clarity he possesses when it comes to intuiting the possibilities that actually exist. It is for such reasons that Barack Obama can be seem as a betrayer to progressives about half or more of the time.

Now the meat of the argument.

When George W. Bush ascended with remarkable ease to the throne of grace, he was just fine thank you. Confident in his self-control. Pleasantly arrogant toward those around him. My snapshot is George W. Bush listening to Bill Frist advocate for African AIDS aid in Air Force One and, with his presidential feet up, asking "Billy Boy" how many votes that would get him. But oddly, when it came to political realism. this sort of cheap bravado was just that -- cheap.(by:
Stephen C. Rose, associatedcontent)

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Saturday, 2 October 2010

Obama: I'm 'Christian by Choice'

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President Barack Obama, in a rare discussion about his religious beliefs, described himself on Tuesday as a "Christian by choice" who arrived at his faith in adulthood because "the precepts of Jesus Christ" helped him envision the kind of life he wanted to lead.

Obama talked about his beliefs when he was asked, "Why are you a Christian." The question was posed by a woman at a backyard conversation here, part of a series of meetings Obama is holding to talk informally with Americans.

Some conservatives and political opponents have questioned Obama's Christian faith. In fact, a Pew Research Center poll in August found that 18 percent of people wrongly believe Obama is Muslim - up from 11 percent who said so in March 2009. Just 34 percent said they thought Obama is Christian.

"I'm a Christian by choice," Obama told his audience here. "My family didn't - frankly, they weren't folks who went to church every week. And my mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew, but she didn't raise me in the church.

"So I came to my Christian faith later in life, and it was because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead - being my brothers' and sisters' keeper, treating others as they would treat me," he continued.

"And I think also understanding that Jesus Christ dying for my sins spoke to the humility we all have to have as human beings, that we're sinful and we're flawed and we make mistakes, and that we achieve salvation through the grace of God," Obama said. "But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people and do our best to help them find their own grace."

Obama said he seeks to do that through daily prayer and public service. "That's what I strive to do. That's what I pray to do every day," he said. "I think my public service is part of that effort to express my Christian faith."

Obama is the son of a Muslim father from Kenya. His mother was from Kansas. As a boy, he lived for several years in predominantly Muslim Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian stepfather. Some think his full name, Barack Hussein Obama, sounds Muslim.

Obama turned his extended reply to the question about his faith into a subtle call for religious tolerance.

"One thing I want to emphasize, having spoken about something that obviously relates to me very personally, as president of the United States I'm also somebody who deeply believes that part of the bedrock strength of this country is that it embraces people of many faiths and no faith," he said.

"That this is a country that is still predominantly Christian, but we have Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, and that their own path to grace is one that we have to revere and respect as much as our own."

"That's part of what makes this country what it is," Obama said.

Obama was a longtime member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. But during the 2008 presidential campaign he resigned from the church and cut ties with its pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, after videotapes surfaced of sermons in which Wright shouted "God damn America" and accused the government of creating AIDS.

Wright had helped Obama embrace Christianity, officiated at his wedding and baptized Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha.

Obama and his family have worshipped at several churches in Washington, and aides say the president enjoys attending services at the chapel at the Camp David presidential retreat. But he has yet to join a congregation in the nation's capital.

Obama's questioner said she had three "hot topic" questions for him. Her other questions were about abortion and whether he'd take home some of her husband's chili peppers.

Obama said abortion should be "safe, legal and rare" and that such a decision should be made by the woman involved, not the government. And, he said, he'd take some of the peppers to go.

"I like spicy food to go with your spicy questions," Obama said.(AP)

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Wednesday, 10 March 2010

AP-GfK Poll: Obama more popular than Congress

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Americans have come to detest Congress ever more deeply as it nears the end of a nasty fight over health care. But more than half still back President Barack Obama, a bright spot for a Democratic Party counting on its leader to help stave off expected losses in elections this fall.

The latest Associated Press-GfK poll found that fewer people approve of Congress than at any point in Obama's presidency. Support has dropped significantly since January to a dismal 22 percent as the health care debate has roiled Capitol Hill. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are safe; half of all people say they want to fire their congressman.

Conversely, Obama's job-performance standing is holding fairly steady at 53 percent. And over the past two months, the Democrat has gained ground on national security issues, specifically the subsiding Iraq war and the escalating Afghanistan war, as he has spent most of his time — at least publicly — on domestic matters like the economy and health care. On those issues, he still has the support of about half the people.

"I agree with what Obama is trying to do, but nobody is listening to him," said Grace Pope of Waterville, Maine. But this 75-year-old Democrat added, "I don't think that the Congress is doing anything."

Such sentiments and the survey's results make clear that Obama remains far more popular than House and Senate members as he leads a Democratic Party facing a volatile election-year environment that, so far, seems to be trending in Republicans' favor. Judging by his standing at this point, Obama seems to be an asset for his rank and file.

But, given the fickleness of this electorate, the uncertainty of the health care debate and the stubbornly high unemployment rate, the president could just as quickly turn into a liability. His own clout will be on the line in the first midterm elections of his presidency. And the outcome is certain to shape the remainder of his first term, if not his likely re-election bid in 2012.

For now, it's unclear just how much Obama can do to prevent midterm election shellackings. Democrats lost recent statewide elections in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia even though he campaigned for them. Presidents typically lose House and Senate seats in their first midterm elections. And the party in power usually bears the brunt of voters' ire when the country is in turmoil.

Thus, another of the poll's findings may not bode well for Obama and his Democrats: A clear majority of Americans — 56 percent — now say the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Democrat Benny Newman of Tulsa, Okla., laid the blame for the nation's ills on both Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress.

"Just bundle them in the same bag," said Newman, who at 79 just lost a job with a local public school district because of budget woes. "I don't think either one of them is interested in the general public. ... They're always stalling, playing politics, trying to jockey for a better position for their own re-election."

In recent weeks, Obama has increasingly blamed the ways of Washington for a lack of progress on his agenda — even though he's in the White House and his party is leading Congress. The disparity between his popularity and Congress' shows his pitch may just be working.

Obama's overall standing hasn't really moved since January. Neither have his ratings on health care and the economy.

But his marks have jumped on Iraq and Afghanistan. More than half of people approve of how he's handling the wars, with 55 percent backing him on Iraq and 57 percent supporting him on Afghanistan. That's compared with 49 percent for each two months ago. The new poll was taken during weekend elections in Iraq, where a U.S. troop drawdown is under way, and in the midst of a buildup in Afghanistan, as the U.S. notches victories in rooting out suspected terrorists.

By comparison, Congress' approval rating has dropped 10 percentage points since January, perhaps an indication that people are blaming lawmakers more than the president for gridlock that has paralyzed Washington on a host of fronts.

It is quite unusual for voters to tear down their own member of Congress. People often dislike the institution of Congress but usually support their own representatives. But not this year. Half said they wanted to elect someone other than their current congressman; only 40 percent wanted to re-elect their lawmaker.

"I don't think anybody up there is doing a good job. ... We need to get rid of them all and institute term limits," said Republican John Campbell, 52, of Del Rio, Texas, a warden at a federal detention center. He castigated Washington as full of "cronies" and Congress as a "bunch of entitled prima donnas."

"Washington," he said, "is broke."

As poor as the ratings are for Congress in general, people seem slightly more unhappy with Republicans than Democrats — another bit of potentially good news for Obama's party.

Just 30 percent approve of how Republicans in Congress are doing their jobs compared with 36 percent for Democrats.

Republicans still trail Democrats on the question of who should win control of Congress come November; 44 percent say Democrats, 38 percent say Republicans.

And the GOP has a slight disadvantage on two issues that voters deem among the most important — the economy and health care.

Still, Democrats are vulnerable, and perhaps nothing illustrates that vulnerability better than this: By 67 percent to 59 percent, more independents disapprove of Democrats in Congress than disapprove of Republicans. This matters because independents usually determine who wins elections. And they have been moving away from Democrats, after heavily supporting them in 2006 and 2008.

The AP-GfK Poll was conducted March 3-8, 2010, by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media. It involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,002 adults nationwide, and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

____

Associated Press Polling Director Trevor Tompson, AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius and AP Writer Ann Sanner contributed to this report.

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