Obama: Where did his love go?

Can you hear President Barack Obama singing these lyrics from Diana Ross and the Supremes, "Baby, baby, where did our love go? Oh, don't you want me, don't you want me no more?" Well, he should be given RasmussenReports.com shows Obama in negative territory in the Daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Obama's approval index is (-2) with 34 percent strongly disapproving of his performance compared to 32 percent strongly approving his efforts so far, leaving 34 percent somewhere in between. Statistically, Obama is not doing poorly. As previously noted here, the numbers are relatively balanced: one-third likes, one-third hates and one-third can go either way.

However, the negative approval rating is remarkable when compared to the favorable treatment the president has received from the media. Consider this from the Pew Research Center earlier this year:

Overall, roughly four out of ten stories, editorials and op ed columns about Obama have been clearly positive in tone, compared with 22% for Bush and 27% for Clinton in the same mix of seven national media outlets during the same first two months in office, according to a study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The study found positive stories about Obama have outweighed negative by two-to-one (42% vs. 20%) while 38% of stories have been neutral or mixed.

There now seems to be some chinks in Obama's armor. Despite overall positive reporting from the media, people are able to get another perspective on Obama and his administration from places like Fox News and blogs like Hot Air, not to mention Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck on the radio.

As the shine wears off the new administration and as the honeymoon transitions into the marriage, Obama's numbers will continue to fall. It seems more people are fed up with the bailouts, don't like the fact that Obama and the courts circumvented standard rules for bankruptcy and are leery about the true cost of health care reform and the stimulus plan.

If this continues, look for Republican gains in the House and Senate come 2010.