Return to Normalcy

President Obama’s approval ratings spiked up rather alarmingly in the wake of his State of the Union speech, most likely because of the lip-service he paid to fiscal moderation. Since then, though, they’ve been returning to normal, driven, I suspect, by public revulsion toward the realities of the President’s $3.7 trillion budget, with its $1.6 trillion deficit.
Today’s Rasmussen survey shows the President’s Approval index (the difference between his Strong Approval and Strong Disapproval numbers) back down to -15, the same grim territory it has mostly occupied since last summer. Perhaps even worse news for the President is his overall approval/disapproval rating, now at 44/55 among likely voters. That might be the worst it’s ever been.
Still, the volatility of Obama’s recent numbers suggest that many Americans haven’t given up on him yet. He and his fellow Democrats in Congress may yet be able to benefit from an improving economy, even if hardly anyone seriously thinks their policies have anything to do with it.