\But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

"American Pie"

President Obama got his own bad news on the doorstep at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It came not in February but September – on page one of The New York Times no less.

Under a headline that read, “In Poll, Support for Obama Slips Among Base,” this is how the story began:

“President Obama’s support is eroding among elements of his base, and a yearlong effort to recapture the political center has failed to attract independent voters, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, leaving him vulnerable at a moment when pessimism over the country’s direction is greater than at any other time since he took office.”


It’s a safe bet that bad news like that is making a lot of folks in the West Wing shiver.

The poll came out just a few days after the president got a double dose of bad news when Democrats lost two special elections for House seats in New York and Nevada. “Both races turned into a referendum on President Obama, who again proved how unpopular he is,” as Karl Rove put it in the Wall Street Journal.

The New York district, Charles Schumer and Andrew Weiner’s old district in Queens, has been in Democratic hands since 1923. If a Democrat can lose in that district, a Democrat can lose anywhere. And they know it!

Just one day after those twin losses, a Field Poll came out in California, where the president has always done well, no matter how crummy he had been doing on less friendly places. Not anymore.

“For the first time since Obama became president in January 2009, fewer than half (46 percent) of California voters approve of his performance as president -- a figure that's dropped eight percentage points in three months,” as The San Francisco Chronicle put it.

There’s more.

A Bloomberg poll shows that a majority of Americans don’t believe the president’s $447 billion job plan will help lower the unemployment rate – and, according to Bloomberg, “Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy by 62 percent to 33 percent.”

As they might say in Shumer and Weiner’s old district, which is heavily Jewish: “Oy Vey.”

According to the New York Times/CBS News poll, Obama is losing support all over the place – especially among the group he most needs -- independents. According to the Times:

“The president’s support has fallen to its lowest levels across parts of the diverse coalition of voters who elected him, from women to suburbanites to college graduates. And a persistent effort over the past year to reclaim his appeal to independent voters has shown few changes of bearing fruit, with 59 percent of this critical electoral group voicing there disapproval.”

Compare that to 2008, when Barack Obama won the independents 52 percent to 44 percent for John McCain.

Here’s the president’s dilemma: If he tries to drum up support among his progressive base, he will lose even more independents. If he tries to win the independents, his base will become even more disillusioned.
Bad news on the doorstep, indeed.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/09/17/bad-news-for-obama-from-new-york-times/#ixzz1YFPcAjwO

Pretty bad coming from a liberal news source.

fox is liberal?.....

It's not news that the Presidents numbers are falling.

But then who are the republicans going to run against him?

Its not news ANYBODYS numbers are falling,, come on now

in this economy and hard times, can you really think of anyone sane that is just THRILLED with anything happening in washington dc?

its the WHOLE government that is loosing face, regardless of political affiliation

and its the individuals running who will have to show why THEY , not their party, are best suited for the position

What else do these same pollsters say

Congress faces historically low approval ratings as it wades into the debate over the $447 billion jobs package proposed by President Obama, with just 12 percent of Americans now approving of the way Congress is handling its job, matching its all-time low, recorded in October 2008 at the height of the economic crisis, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.


The New York Times/CBS News Poll
Graphic: Approval of Congress Matches Record LowVoters are slightly more disapproving of the Republicans in Congress than they are of the Democrats, with just 19 percent approving of Republicans, compared with 28 percent that approve of Democrats




seems EVERYONE including republicans are losing voters overall

and republicans are still coming up shorter than the PRESIDENT

AND FROM THE FIELD POLL

Just 9 percent of California voters approve of the job Congress is doing, the poorest assessment since Field started polling on the question 20 years ago. Eighty-six percent of California voters disapprove of the job Congress is doing, according to the poll.


Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/16/3145995/poll-congress-approval-rating.html#ixzz1YFTuy5Al



9 percent approve of Congress, vs 46 percent approving of OBama,,


seems the story leaves alot out to make it seem like the President has a distinct disadvantage in the public eye


without including that ALL The politicians are facing this same type of decline and it is
STILL gonna come down to that last campaign stretch, when the INDIVIDUALS will have to show
why THEY 'not their party' should have the position of Presidency

Nice to see somebody getting information from someplace other than Fox.

I try to check further when it comes to POLLS that seem to isolate one person or topic

I look a bit further just to see how it RELATES to the actual big picture,,,

One thing you have to understand is that polls and media are grossly weighted to either the lefts or rights agenda. Rasmussen is the only poll I pay attention and as far as as close to unbiased news you can get IMO is News Hour on PBS.

Fox news has an article about an article. The original article is from the New York Times... Which is liberal.

Right, it is only a tease for the Repubs to see the numbers fall because they have not even a sniff of the presidency next year.

Can we quote you on that? Obama doesn't have the independents right now. Hell New York and Nevada just lost seats to republicans. That hasn't happened in NY since 1923, almost 90 years.

It would be good for the republicans if Obama was as confident as you but he isn't and is already doing campaigning for the next election.

Its hard to look at things objectively when you are so far on one side. As and independent voter I am looking at peoples reactions and how other dependents are seeing the country.

you can quote me on this

'polls change daily'

'polls change weekly'

'public support increases and diminishes with each scandal or negative report about a candidate'

,,,so, its too early to tell

in the same less than two years it took for people to turn on OBAMA, they can also turn on Republicans

noone is so 'SAFE' in the political game

all are in danger and losing the confidence of constituents, and they will have to pull it out by next election


regional 'wins' are not an indication of NATIONAL support,

its an indication of what is happening IN THAT REGION at the time of the election being held

no guarantee on either side of which will do a better job of such a task,,,,