Some Good News for Mr. Obama – He is Polling Better than His Approval Numbers

The Bad News:  The Good News is Not Going to Get Better but It Will Get Worse

The approval ratings for Mr. Obama currently are very low.  Only around 40 to 45% of Americans approve of his Presidency, and the trend is in a downward direction.  So one would expect he would not poll all that good against his potential Republican opponents.

The Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found this was not true.

Mr. Romney remains the strongest in a head-to-head match against President Barack Obama, according to the poll, trailing the president 46% to 44% among all adults polled. Mr. Cain lags behind the president by 11 percentage points, while Mr. Perry trails by 12 points.

So what’s not to celebrate for the President.  Well there are these things.

1. The poll is registered voters.  It is too soon to poll likely voters, but given the enthusiasm in Republican circles and the lack thereof in Democratic circles a poll of likely voters would probably show Mr. Obama trailing badly.

2. Mr. Romney is getting tremendously favorable press coverage.  Ultimately this will translate into higher ratings for Mr. Romney if he becomes the nominee.

3. The Solyndra debacle where the government provided a half billion guarantee to a solar energy company that has since gone into bankruptcy gets worse every day. Incompetence is competing with Conflict of Interest to see which is the worst part of the program. This issue is not yet before the voters.  It will be in a big way once the election season arrives.  Even with a bad economy Solyndra has the potential to be the deciding issue in the election, it is that big a political and economic and policy disaster.

What about the future?  Mr. Obama cannot win on his own merits, but he can win if overeager Republicans turn vicious and overplay their hand.  They give every indication of being able to do so.