PUBLIC OPINION > Obama Doesn't Deserve 'Person of the Year'
SodaHead News
2012/12/20 22:00:00
TIME named its 2012 Person of the Year this month and, as expected, the President took the title. Why is that expected? Well, mostly because every president since FDR has received the title (with the exception of Gerald Ford). Plus, this is Obama's second time receiving the title. But again, that's usually how it goes -- George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, most of the guys who served multiple terms also received multiple titles. But we wanted to know if the public thinks Obama deserves it.
We should probably mention that "Person of the Year" does not necessarily mean "best" person of the year, but rather "most influential." One commenter noted, "Remember some other TMPOTY winners? Well Hitler, Stalin, and Arafat are a few other winners." However, based on the comments, it seems most people are simply unimpressed with TIME's method of selection. It's a strange selection process, and the fact that every president gets it kind of detracts from the meaning anyway.
Liberals Approve
Liberals Approve
Even though TIME notes that they make their pick based on influence "for better or for worse," most people on the left and right took it to be an act of approval. Naturally, liberal voters were overwhelmingly supportive of the selection and conservatives were overwhelmingly disappointed with it. One voter wrote, "The semantics of the qualities for being picked falls on deaf ears."
The Military Is Unimpressed
The Military Is Unimpressed
There was a lot of variation in the career industry breakdown, so we wanted to take a look at some of the most and least supportive groups that had a reasonable sample size. Approximately 5% of respondents listed their career as "Military," and they were among the least impressed. Only 23% of them felt Obama deserved the title; "Arts & Entertainment" also made up about 5%, but 56% of them liked the selection.
Divided Youth
Divided Youth
Typically in polls like this, young people lean more to the left. However, this time the majority of respondents in every single age group voted against the selection. To be fair, teens and young adults were more supportive than other groups, but only by a margin of about 10%. However, respondents in the 25-34 range -- still relatively young -- were actually least supportive.
If you'd like to vote on this question, dig deeper into the demographics, or engage in existing discussion about the topic, visit our poll about TIME's Person of the Year. We'd love to hear from you!
If you'd like to vote on this question, dig deeper into the demographics, or engage in existing discussion about the topic, visit our poll about TIME's Person of the Year. We'd love to hear from you!
Top Opinion
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cinbadl 2012/12/20 22:43:18
Reality is good can never win over evil -- because good has to play fair. Sucks.
we will not like-basically a welfare state His sly favoritism of muslim countries
is also obvious to many
To have Time magazine pick him as 'person of the year" is like allowing two wolves and a sheep to make the decision whats for super...
This election was stolen as sure as the Lord made little green apples.
Is there someone who was more influential this past year?
Name a better choice.
I'm a bit of a news junkie. I don't recall hearing Jackson's or Sharpton's name much if at all last year.
(BTW - If you check out some of my other responses, you will find that I am a huge Obama supporter - very liberal/progressive. But I also expect people to get what they EARN thru effort and accomplishment.)