Why obama loves reagan

The sale, a hold over from the Carter administration, was meant to help Saudi Arabia patrol its airspace, specifically against Iran in the Persian Gulf.

After all, IAF jets had flown, undetected, through Saudi airspace. The battle was painted as one between the organized pro-Israel American Jewish community and the Reagan administration.

Thus, many pro-Israel American Jews hoped his administration would yield to pressure to retain Jewish voters. Instead, Reagan courted Republican Senators and was able to ensure that a bill aimed at stopping the sale, which had sailed through the House of Representatives, was narrowly defeated by October The sale was a key blow to the pro-Israel lobby groups and their supporters, as it showed that a determined administration could convince enough members of the Senate, and the public, that American and Israeli interests did not always converge.

Nearly a year later, the US and Israel suffered another crisis in their relations. In June , the Israeli military invaded southern Lebanon to, as claimed , clear Palestinian Liberation Organization PLO guerilla fighters and heavy weaponry from the area. Privately, however, the invasion was aimed at strengthening the power of the Right-wing Christian Philangist Party and its paramilitary units, with the goal of bringing the Lebanese civil war to an end and a pro-Israeli government to power.

Reagan responded with an angry telephone call to Menachem Begin, in which he demanded a cessation of operations. The Obama administration has never voted to censure Israel at the UN and has only once abstained from a resolution that criticizes Israel. In both cases, a sitting president had to rally the public behind an unpopular deal that was, at least initially, opposed by majorities of both major parties in the House and the Senate.

In both cases, the president won. Yet, there are two key differences worth highlighting. I asked her if she thought McCain had any shot. Yes, she said—as long as voters "examine the facts and not let their emotions run away with them. So are Americans letting their emotions—their desire for Obama to be all that he was made out to be—cloud their perception of the job he is doing in office?

That's certainly appears to be part of it; there is no denying the Obama "cult of personality," as V. Among voters, "It does suggest Obama has a reservoir of good will," Newport told me. At the same time, the White House is doing an artful job allowing the president to remain presidential and not get bogged down in the technical unpleasantries of bailing out Wall Street, saving the auto industry, and searching for bin Laden or at least David Rohde in the mountains of Pakistan.

The logic goes that, by exposing Tim Geithner and Gen. Stanley McChrystal , Obama can remain above the fray. It's effective, and not unprecedented. Ronald Reagan was known as the Teflon president because, as former Democratic Congresswoman Pat Schroeder said in , "nothing sticks to him. The same rings true with Obama.

It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values. Even in a polarized era, the survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions. Pew Research Center now uses as the last birth year for Millennials in our work. President Michael Dimock explains why. The vast majority of U. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research.