THE HILL– 52 percent of Americans said President Barack Obama doesn’t deserve reelection in 2012, according to a new poll.

44 percent of all Americans said they would vote to reelect the president in two and a half years, less than the slight majority who said they would prefer to elect someone else.

Obama faces a 44-52 deficit among both all Americans and registered voters, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll released Tuesday. Four percent had no opinion.

The reelection numbers are slightly more sour than Obama’s approval ratings, which are basically tied. 49 percent of people told CNN that they approve of the way Obama is handling his job, while 50 percent disapprove.

Still, the 2012 election is still a long way’s away, with this fall’s midterm elections looming large. Republicans are hoping to make inroads into Congress, while Democrats are hoping to hold onto gains won in the 2006 and 2008 cycles.

Respondents to CNN were split at 46 percent as to whether they preferred a generic Republican or Democratic candidate in this fall’s elections.

At least one retiring lawmaker is confident Obama will sail to reelection, with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) predicting Monday the president would win “overwhelmingly” in 2012.

The CNN poll, conducted Feb. 12-15, has a three percent margin of error.

© COPYRIGHT THE HILL, 2010

Photo by Flickr user US Army

BBC NEWS– As expected, the French parliament has voted in favour of a new law to ban the wearing of Islamic headscarves in schools. And despite mass protests by French Muslims in recent weeks, the ban won by a landslide.

It will not just affect Muslim girls- large Christian crosses and Jewish skullcaps are also banned, as almost certainly are Sikh turbans.

After months of public debate, the vote in parliament was a brief affair. Just five minutes for each party to sum up their position on this controversial new law.

Then, the vote itself- passed by 494 votes in favour, with just 36 against. This means that as long as it is approved by the upper house next month, the new law will come into effect in September, banning all obvious religious symbols from schools.

President Jacques Chirac’s ruling centre-right UMP party has been the driving force behind the law, which is backed by some 70% of French people.

UMP deputy Jerome Riviere says France’s secular nature was being challenged by a small minority of hardline Islamists, and he insists the law is not about suppressing religious freedom.

“We have to give a political answer to what is a political problem,” he said.

“We don’t have a problem with religion in France. We have a problem with the political use by a minority of religion.”

Yet others warn that far from uniting the country, this new measure will divide it more than ever.

At a small demonstration outside the National Assembly, just under 200 protesters gathered to oppose the new law. Most were young Muslim women, all wearing headscarves.

Risk

As the children of immigrants, they say, they have a dual identity – both French and Muslim – and they blame France for failing to accept its newer citizens.

“It is unjust and I am very angry, angry yes, it’s not just, it’s a law, a segregation,” one woman told me.

Another protester said: “We are very upset especially with this law, we think this is very unfair against the Muslims. But this is not only a threat for Muslims but for whole French community.”

Others here say that that feeling of rejection or alienation could even drive some young Muslims into the arms of Islamic fundamentalists.

Green party leader Noel Mamer opposed the new law.

“I think it’s a very bad law, a law which takes the risk to make worse the rift between two parts of the French population,” he said.

Yet teachers in France are relieved that it will no longer be up to them to arbitrate on disputes over whether Muslim pupils can wear the Islamic headscarf in class.

Continue reading about the Banning of Islamic Headscarfs in Schools.

© COPYRIGHT BBC NEWS, 2004

Photo by Flickr user HamedSaber

March 6. 2008

THINK PROGRESS– The Harris results reflect the findings of a Harvard University study conducted last year, which found “nearly two-thirds of Americans do not trust campaign coverage by the news media.” A few other recent surveys offer some explanation for the public’s distrust:

– Two thirds of Americans – 67% – believe traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news.

– The harshest indictments of the press come from the growing segment that relies on the internet as its main source for news. The internet news audience is particularly likely to criticize news organizations for their lack of empathy, their failure to “stand up for America,” and political bias.

– Democrats, Republicans and independents have decreased confidence in the accuracy of media reports on the war.

These days, the slogan “most trusted name in news” doesn’t mean as much as it once did.

 

‘

© COPYRIGHT THINK PROGRESS, 2008