Obama's Falling Approval Rating: David Loftus

To be perfectly honest, I haven’t paid much attention to Obama since I voted for him joyfully a year ago. I suppose I could offer the excuses that I know most of the coverage given to him in the media is diversionary fluff, and that the anti-Obama rhetoric that periodically manages to slip into my eyes and ears is so outrageously stupid and wrong that it’s better for my mental health to avoid it as much as possible.

It’s always been astounding to me how quickly and easily opinion poll numbers have slid up and down with regard to past presidents. My own experience has been that my general judgment of a candidate is almost always borne out by his performance in office, and that my feelings about him never change that much. So I don’t know what is going on in the heads of Americans whose opinions on such huge and complex matters as foreign policy, health reform, and the president’s performance seem to change as fast as their favorite flavor, iPod tune, or movie.

I’ve been irritated that the Obama administration hasn’t been as quick to get our military service people out of Iraq (AND Afghanistan, though he didn’t promise that), or as swift to shut down Guantanamo, or as certain about discontinuing certain noxious Bush administration policies, or as skilled at selling health care reform and the public option, as he had promised or seemed capable of being prior to his election. But I don’t mind much. I’m still glad he’s there, and I’m hoping for a few great things of him with time. I just wish other citizens would give him a chance to give it his best shot. I might have despised Dubya Bush, but I never wished for him to fail, let alone be killed. The free-flowing hatred in this country is a sobering and depressing sight.