Obama Numbers Up

The general consensus was that the devastating midterm elections back in November had a fair amount to do with the declining popularity of Obama and his agenda. Though there is strong evidence that this is only partially true, it was hard to ignore the loss of the Senate and further damage at the state level. But just as that Congress is being sworn in, it appears Obama’s behavior since the election has reaped positive benefits, at least for his approval rating. In fact, not only has it risen 5 percentage points in the last month, to 47 percent (on par with Reagan (49), way ahead of Bush (33) and closing in on Clinton’s 63% at the same point in their presidencies), but the GOP has seen a decline in their approval ratings of four percentage points (to 40 percent).

Given the positive economic news of late, it is possible this is the reason that his approval rating has risen. But it is equally possible that standing up to the GOP, passing comprehensive immigration reform, threatening to block both the radical economic and Keystone bills the Republicans are pushing, signing a carbon-emission-reduction plan with China and putting his support behind Net Neutrality have reinvigorated a base that had grown weary of his futile attempts at bipartisanship with a party that believes compromise is a character flaw.