Kellyanne Discusses President Obama's Ability to Handle and Prioritize the Challenges Facing America on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight

September 28, 2009 (7:00pm)

Read more on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight website.

Read the full transcript of the show here.

Topics: Is Iran Pushing for Peace?; Can President Obama handle Responsibilities

DOBBS: Well, tonight, national polls show President Obama's personal approval rating now dropping down to the low 50s. Support for his health care proposal also at an all-time low, particularly among seniors. He calls the highest legislative priority of his presidency health care reform. But has the president lost the momentum necessary to prevail?

Joining me now, John Anzalone, Democratic strategist with a research team and Kellyanne Conway, Republican strategist with the Polling Company. Thank you both for being here. How concerned should the Democratic Party be about the fact that today, for example, we saw the Rasmussen poll showing the highest opposition to the president on health care that we've seen so far?

JOHN ANZALONE, ANZALONE RESEARCH: The good news for President Obama, in this environment, you have almost 70 percent of the people, voters, who believe that the system should be totally reformed or a major reform. The want for reform is out there. That's not going away. The other thing in terms of Obama right now is he is in control of it. I believe he turned it around in his speech to the American people, to the fact that he's gone across the country talking about it. He at least is now controlling it and owning it. I think that is important at this point in time. The other thing is, who's the competition? Right now, if you take a look at those numbers --

DOBBS: Absent.

ANZALONE: Here's what's really important. Even though the support and opposition may be about dead even, when you ask the American people who do you trust on health care reform, by a two to one margin, they choose President Obama and that becomes really important in this next month.

DOBBS: I can't understand how he's possibly facing 56 percent opposition on health care, looking at the approval ratings of 51 percent on the tracking poll.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, THE POLLING COMPANY: Yes, but that's because he's been trying to sell it too hard. He keeps pushing a bad idea. He wants to make you buy a product that people don't seem to want, Lou. Actually, the more he talks about it, the less appealing the product becomes. If you look at his numbers in the last two or three months among seniors, women and particularly independents, it's one thing that the approval is dropping but the disapproval, the skepticism is on the increase. People that were giving him the benefit of the doubt and sitting on the fence have now firmed up their o