{"id":25704,"date":"2009-02-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-27T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2009\/02\/27\/truth-over-happiness\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:52:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:52:37","slug":"truth-over-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2009\/02\/27\/truth-over-happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"Truth over Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">by Jodie T. Allen and Richard C. Auxier, Pew Research Center\nSpecial to the <em>Atlantic<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ok, so maybe Americans do like happy talk. That, anyway, is what the pundits and the pols (including a former president) have been telling President Obama ever since his relatively somber inaugural address &#8212; lighten up, fella, let\u2019s hear more of that \u2018yes we can\u2019 talk!<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As widely noted, President Obama responded to these concerns, including with some \u201cmade-for-applause\u201d lines in his address to Congress. \u201cWe will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before,\u201d he assured his listeners. \u201c\u2026We are a nation that has seen promise amid peril and claimed opportunity from ordeal.\u201d Etc.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instant polling appeared to confirm the predicted positive response. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/blogs\/2009\/02\/24\/politics\/politicalhotsheet\/entry4826615.shtml\">CBS News\/Knowledge Networks poll<\/a>, for a fast example, found that, among its sample of speech watchers (38% Democrats, 26% Republicans and 36% independents) an overwhelming 80% said they approved of the president\u2019s plan for dealing with the economic crisis. Prior to the speech, 63% approved.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, unwilling to abandon the tough-minded, fact-based approach that characterized the opening weeks of his presidency, Obama administered an even larger dose of downers: \u201cNone of this will come without cost, nor will it be easy.\u201d Etc.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe attempted to be the grown-up in the room, willing to accept responsibility and prodding others to do the same,\u201d observed the <em>Washington Post<\/em>\u2019s Steven <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2009\/02\/25\/AR2009022500046.html\">Pearlstein<\/a>. But do Americans really want to be governed by a grown-up &#8212; especially one who goes so far as to admit that \u201cMy budget does not attempt to solve every problem or address every issue.\u201d?<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Remember how the press and the public beat up on Jimmy Carter when he worried about a \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/amex\/carter\/filmmore\/ps_crisis.html\">crisis of confidence<\/a>\u201d infecting the nation? Didn\u2019t the country breathe a collective sigh of relief when Ronald Reagan exuded optimism from the bully pulpit? Since then, such boosterism seems almost a matter of course. As the <em>Atlantic<\/em>\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com\/the_daily_dish\/2009\/02\/jindals-fatuous.html\">Andrew Sullivan<\/a> put it, \u201cWhat was a necessary pep-talk in the 1980s from Reagan became calcified into a dogma that verges on national self-idolatry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The record in fact shows that how Americans react to tough talk depends crucially on how they judge the person administering the lecture&#8230;.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Read the full commentary at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/doc\/200902u\/polling-obama\">theatlantic.com<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Will Americans listen only to Happy Talk from a president? Here&#8217;s what the record shows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[75,235],"tags":[],"bylines":[2134],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-25704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-barack-obama","category-economic-policy","bylines-tom-rosentiel","formats-report","regions-countries-united-states"],"label":false,"post_parent":0,"word_count":377,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2009\/02\/27\/truth-over-happiness\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"report_materials":"","report_pagination":{"current_post":null,"next_post":null,"previous_post":null,"pagination_items":[]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Truth over Happiness","parent_id":25704},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Truth over Happiness","description":"Will Americans listen only to Happy Talk from a president? Here's what the record shows.","og_title":"Truth over Happiness","og_description":"Will Americans listen only to Happy Talk from a president? Here's what the record shows.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":[],"custom_schema":[],"og_image":0,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{"prc-image-alt-text":{"status":"complete","message":"No image blocks in content.","data":null},"prc-about-this-research":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add an \"About this research\" details block.","data":null},"prc-paragraph-count":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 9 paragraphs.","data":{"count":9}},"prc-internal-link":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add at least one internal link.","data":{"count":0}}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[{"key":"ebb1c54a-f167-4d44-a473-95ae0ad0c5e9","termId":2134}],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25704"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118114,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25704\/revisions\/118114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"level_of_effort","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level_of_effort?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"primary_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary_audience?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"information_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/information_type?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=25704"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=25704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}