Judging by the results of a recent poll, US President Barack Obama may want to become an actor after his presidential term expires if he really wants to achieve sky-high ratings as a leader.
Although Obama may resort to a teleprompter when speaking his lines to the American people, that seems to be where the similarities between the Democratic leader and the scripted, made-for-television presidential leaders ends.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll taken this month showed 54 percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of real-life leader Obama, while 46 percent were favorable.
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Compare that rather humble figure with that of Martin Sheen's
character Jed Bartlet of ‘The West Wing’ who got a thumbs up by
82 percent of its NBC viewing audience.
Even less-than-respectable fictional leaders came out ahead of
Obama.
For viewers of ABC's intrigue-filled ‘Scandal’, 60 percent said
they liked Fitzgerald ‘Fitz’ Grant, the womanizing,
alcohol-drinking president played by Tony Goldwyn.
Meanwhile, Frank Underwood, the ruthless character played by
Kevin Spacey in ‘House of Cards’, also beat Obama, although by a
narrow margin. Fifty-seven percent of respondents who have
watched the political show said they held a favorable opinion of
Underwood.
For those not familiar with the Netflix head of state, Underwood
is portrayed as ruthlessly pragmatic, doing whatever it takes to
grab and hold on to his power.
“Even his marriage to his wife, Claire Underwood, is probably
calculated: she came from a wealthy family, he was just gearing
up for his first congressional campaign, and he needed the
money,” the National Journal explained in a review of the
series last year.
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Even Obama seems enamored by Spacey’s character. "This guy's
getting a lot of stuff done," Obama told Reed Hastings,
Netflix's chief executive, during a White House visit in December
2013.
"I wish things were that ruthlessly efficient," Obama
added.
According to Tevi Troy, a presidential historian and author, few
American presidents are going to score highly in opinion polls
due to the realities of a two-party system that lacks outside
voices.
"Pretty much half the country is going to be predisposed
against you just because that's the way we line up with
Republicans and Democrats," Troy told Reuters.
However, Obama may take comfort that 76 percent of Americans
contacted in the poll - held from March 5 to 19 - reported an
unfavorable view of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while 24
percent were favorable.