Why did Obama come out today, to tell us all just how effective his war on terror has been? We have the answer here:

Mention on "terrorism" in social media increased from 3% to 16% in just one month  (November to December) and has become more important to Americans  that job creation,  or shared wealth security. 

Before publishing Gallup's explanation,  keep asking yourselves this question after hearing Obama comments such as,  "We are increasing the level of violence and the number of attacks against ISIL compared to where we were a few months ago,"   . . . . . . . .   why the in the world  weren't you doing this all along?  Thousands have died BECAUSE of his philosophical procrastination,  thousands I say,  because he is afraid of killing some innocents in the crossfire.  

Me?  I have never thought Obama was the brightest bulb on the wall,  but this philosophy may mark a certain mental illness in Barack shared by Flower Power Children the world over,  one we might call,  "procrastenitius  philosophicus.  The disease has been around for as long as there have been liberals trying to deal with waging war.  It reached  biblical proportions in the years leading up to June 6, 1944,  when Europe,  afraid to kill the enemy, and,   desperately wishing that appeasement would end Hitlers killing spree, had to turn to its illegitimate  cousin,  the United States of America,  for salvation and an effective cure to their disease.  'Nuff said. 

Here is Gallup on the reason for the new level of populace attention and,  by implication,  why (a)  Obama has suddenly decided that his Oval Office speech was a pathetic failure and  (b)  why no one bought into his announced theory that gun control and climate agreements were the best venues for fighting back domestic terror.  

Bottom Line
The terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris have altered how Americans view the problems facing the U.S. Satisfaction with the way things are going in the U.S. dropped significantly to a 13-month low in December, and Americans' trust in the government to protect them from terrorism is the lowest Gallup has measured. The data reviewed here show that terrorism has now become the single most-frequently mentioned issue when Americans are asked to name the most important problem.

In the past, mentions of terrorism as the most important U.S. problem have quickly fallen after a major incident. But two major attacks in short succession, at a time when concern about terrorism was already elevated given the threat of the Islamic State, have Americans on edge. President Barack Obama himself made a rare Oval Office address shortly after the San Bernardino attacks, to discuss terrorism and how he hopes to combat it. Whether terrorism remains atop the list of Americans' concerns or recedes in the coming months likely will depend on the government's response to the terror threat as well as the occurrence, or the lack, of major attacks in the U.S. or elsewhere.
Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.