At the end of the day, the American people ...

At the end of the day, the American people seem to be falling out of love with President Barack Obama when you look at RasmussenReports.com Presidential Approval Index. Obama's numbers are slipping in Virginia and Ohio. What once appeared to be an invincible Democratic lock might be showing signs of weakness. Still too early to tell, but the trending is interesting.

Along similar lines, Bryan Schaaf and I wrote a story about U.S. Rep. John Boccieri's vote on cap and tax; he was not sold on it before the vote but ended up supporting it (see the story here and high-quality video here). Most of those motivated to comment on the story opposed the vote.

Boccieri remains popular among many I talk to because he spends a lot of time in Wayne County and is accessible.

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.

Obama; Wafer-thin margin

Rasmussen Reports.com notes on its site that the Daily Presidential Tracking poll has President Barack Obama's approval rating at +1, the second time he has reached this low point. Obama was last at +1 on May 2, 2009. His highest rating was +30 on Jan. 22, 2009. He has only been in double-digit positive territory once since March 6.

The +1 rating on Tuesday was before his his announcement of Sonia Sotamayor as his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. The influence of her nomination should show up within the next few days. As for this dip, it likely has to do with former Vice President Dick Cheney challenging President Obama on his decision to release the memos regarding the enhanced interrogation techniques and the president's own Democratic Party opposing him on closing the prison in Guantanamo Bay.

I thought for sure Obama would have dipped below zero by now, but he has not. He has come close, but has always rebounded. I will be watching to see if Sotamayor will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Obama: Is he wearing his critics down?

Barack Obama's Presidential Approval Index stood at +9 Friday, the highest mark since March 21, according to RasmussenReports.com. Obama's PAI started at +28 on Jan. 21, 2009, rose to +30 two days later, then generally has been in steady decline with some fluctuations.

After enjoying such high favorable numbers in the early days of his presidency, Obama has only cracked a double-digit PAI on two occasions since March 7, 2009. He reached a low point on May 2, 2009, when the Presidential Approval Index slipped to +1.

I think any number in positive territory is OK. As I stated before, even if it were zero, then there would be as many people who strongly approved of the president as who strongly disapproved -- and the rest would be in the middle. Consequently, it is balanced.

What intrigues me is how did it go from +1 to +9? What caused the movement? Is it that the president wants to go after those who shirk their responsibilities by not paying taxes? Well, what about all of his appointees who had personal tax problems? Was it because of causing a scare in New York with Air Force One, spending $329,000 on the photo op and not owning up to the responsibility? (Do you believe he really did not know where his plane was?)

Could it be something else? Are Americans just growing weary of Obama and his leftward advances? Perhaps Obama has just worn them down into submission. At any rate, he is at +9. I figured he would have dipped into negative territory by now.

Why is Obama's approval waning?

President Barack Obama's Presidential Approval Index, as tracked by RasmussenReports.com shows him back at his lowest rating, +2.

I wonder why the number is so low. He allowed the Navy to do its job with the pirates, and there was a successful outcome off the Somalian coast. There are signs the economy is doing better. Retail sales might have slipped some, but people are saving more, too.

Obama has been wading in the single digits since March 7, 2009 (see trend here), only once climbing into double digits since then (+11 on March 31, 2009). He started out strong, with a +28 the day after his inauguration, and he climbed to his highest rating on Jan. 22, 2009 (+30).

However, it has been mostly all down hill since then. Could Tax Day or the TEA Parties have something to do with it? Perhaps.

But, there also could be a lingering feeling among Americans that all of this spending by government will catch up with us soon. Rasmussen polls show most Americans think those earning less than $250,000 will be taxed more, despite President Obama's promises on the campaign trail not to tax those earning less than $250,000.

We'll see if he can recover. After all, he's not even been on the job 100 days yet.

The daily gyrations of the approval index

President Barack Obama's approval numbers are falling, based on the RasmussenReports.com index. Now, they have been up and down (just like the daily gyrations of the stock market), and I wonder if this factors in the firing of GM CEO Rick Wagoner and Obama's comments about America being an arrogant country in France.

Obama's approval rating tight

The RasmussenReports.com site shows President Barack Obama's approval staying in single digits, between 4-7 points.

If you look at the Rasmussen chart, Obama really had no where to go but down. He started out as a very popular candidate, then president. However, during the campaign he was very vague and sounded like a moderate.

I think the low negative numbers at the start of Obama's presidency shows many were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Now that the people see what he is doing, who is nominated and what policies are important to him, his negatives have skyrocketed.

Even still, I don't think the chart is too bad or alarming. Might it be just right?

About one-third of the people think he is doing a great job and another third can't stand what he is doing. So, that leaves the remaining third somewhere in between. Seems balanced to me.

Negatives rising

President Barack H. Obama's negatives are climbing. I think his recent change of tone, in that he has quit talking about this economic condition as the worst catastrophic event ever to hit this country (it was inherited, remember), should help with his approval rating. For more, visit RasmussenReports.com.

The wheels on the bus fall off and off

If you look at the data objectively from RasmussenReports.com regarding its daily presidential tracking poll, which tallies the Presidential Approval Index, you can clearly see Obama's policies are alienating him with the public.

When you look at the entire poll, Mr. Obama had few opponents when he began his presidency. But, his policies appear to be alienating more and more people who thought favorably of him. He can't blame that on Bush. He didn't inherit high negatives from Bush.

No, Mr. President, you own your negatives. Now keep on telling us your policies are what the American people want. Not.

Hope or change poll results are in

President Barack Obama campaigned on hope and change en route to the White House, so I thought why not put forth a Hope or Change poll. So, the selections were: Hope, Change or You're kidding, right? Want to guess which selection won? If you guessed "You're kidding, right?" then you would be right, and I am not kidding.

First poll results are in

Readers of this blog said U.S. Rep. John Boccieri, a Democrat who represents Ohio's 16th Congressional District, did the right thing to vote for the stimulus plan in the U.S. House.

The people have spoken.