As President Obama and his family fly north to the exclusive and ritzy town of Martha' Vineyard for a weeklong vacation his poll numbers continue their tumble south as the number of voters who "Strongly Approve" of the presidents performance declined to his lowest ever today at 29%. The summer months have seemed to really turn up the heat on the Democrat's who will start September with some unusually poor approval ratings for a party that controls both the house and senate and who vowed to usher in a new chapter of American politics. Obama and the democrats will also need to address many different and polarizing issues when they return including healthcare, cap and trade, energy legislation, and a growing demand for more troops in Afghanistan.
Eight short months ago the Republican Party was heading to the E.R as the 2008 elections swept the dems to victory in the house. They then gained two valuable seats in the senate when Al Franken was declared the winner in a MN recount and PA Senator Arlen Specter deflected to the left. This left the Republicans on life support. Many pundits and newspaper columnists rejoiced at the republican's disarray and with Gov. Mark Sanford of SC admitting to an affair they were downright giddy to pull the plug. Yet, with all their power comes an equal amount of pressure and for the Democratic Party, the kitchens getting hot.
Obama's uplifting presidential campaign based on "Hope and Change" and Bush being extremely disliked unified democrats and independents to overwhelming vote for change in congress and in the White House. Now that Obama needs to govern things are beginning to sway for the Republican Party. Concern of the Governments involvement in healthcare and the poorly ran "Cash for Clunkers" program has shown how out-of-touch and liberal our current president is. His cap and trade and scary energy legislatives have been a boon to the Northeast and San Francisco liberals but have scared many Middle America independents who rely on manufacturing or farming to survive. This has caused a general wariness and distrust among them, that Republicans have sought to and have successfully capitalized on.
He campaigned as a centrist as his sudden lurch to the left has taken the blue-collar rust belt voters by surprise. The stimulus package that he jammed through without reading also hasn't helped his overall appeal. People are now asking for the jobs he promised them and they haven't gotten any response. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi both have lower approval ratings than when George W Bush left office. Republicans are enjoying leads in VA and NJ in both states governor's races. If the election was held today Specter, Dodd, and Reid would all lose their senate seats to republicans.
The first eight months are now over for President Obama and they have favored the Republicans, hopefully the next 39 months will too.
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