Obama's popularity starting to wane?

We live in interesting times and the job of POTUS is probably the most difficult and stressful task in the world. This is of course why so much emphasis is placed on elections, campaigns and public involvement.

Obama rode in a wave of irrational popularity bolstered by the nation's vehement dislike of George W. Bush, a souring economy and the attraction to a youthful black male. A great many of us in the political "right" and "center" were put off by Obama as we began to learn about his experience, stances and dubious past.

It appears, however, that some sense is starting to creep back into the American public although at a stubbornly slow rate. As of now, the most trusted pollster - Scott Rasmussen suggests that for the first time since Obama's election the number of people who greatly disapprove of Obama's performance outweigh those that greatly approve.


Total approval is still outweighing the total disapproval by 9%. I trust Rasmussen more than any other agency because of the significant effort he takes in polling actual voters as opposed to random Americans. Those that vote habitually are more educated and frankly more important in terms of gauging political sentiment.

Gallup, a source I trust much less and has a common history of over blowing their numbers suggest that Obama's approval rating is at it's lowest, 57-35.

What may be contributing to Obama's slip in numbers and what does it mean for the nation?
Several factors are in play here in my opinion.


1. Stimulus: It appears that people are finally becoming aware that frivolous government spending does not promote a healthy economy. The stimulus bill was rushed through congress and jammed down the throat of the American people on the grounds that a crisis must be averted. It turns out that unemployment continued to climb and the amount of money spent out of the stimulus money is marginal.

2. Iran: Iran's "revolution" is now headline news on all major agencies and the divide between Obama's handling of the situation is growing. It does not matter what the man does, because it is a lose-lose situation for him. Due to his immature and silly campaign promises of maintaining dialog with dictators and murderers, he is left with two options. He either embraces the opposition in Iran thus breaking his campaign promise or he maintains his campaign promise and permanently alienates the revolting population of Iran.

3. North Korea: Americans are very concerned about foreign policy and Obama's soft stance on foreign relations and continued reduction in advanced military equipment has emboldened our enemies. Recently North Korea's sabre rattling has intensified dramatically and as of this moment a Korean ship is being tracked by our military for suspected arms smuggling.

4. National health care: Despite what Obama thinks and says, most Americans do not accept the idea of state run heath care. Worse still, he claims that the government will act as a competitor and NOT crowd the private industry - this is of course not true and cannot be realistic. As this awful policy gains more attention in the media, independents that voted for Obama will break away in droves.


As of now, Obama is still extremely popular, but as time progresses he will become the owner of the economic condition that his policies have created. Unlike FDR, Obama will not be able to pull the wool over people's eyes in the age of communication and information overload, nor will his policies be directed to Republican strongholds to win over voting constituency a la New Deal. Instead, in the age of the Internet and the collective ADD that plagues the American public - the patience with this youthful new president will run out in record time.


In fact, the stock market will be the precursor to Obama's popularity. As of now, we are at a critical inflection point and the 2nd sharpest rally in the equities market is about to end. Once the resumption of the bear market continues and the economic reality wipes away the delusional fog clears away - Obama's popularity will sink.


Hopefully his waning popularity will put a stem on the extremely liberal agenda that is placing this country in back breaking debt and the flow of policies that may permanently change life in America.