The New York Times poll (invariably more positive for the Democrats than other surveys) contains little good news for the Democrats. The Times has Obama’s approval at 45 percent, near his all-time low of 44 percent. His disapproval rating of 47 percent is a record in this poll. A mere 33 percent think the country is going in the right direction. Only 41 percent approve of Obama’s handling of the economy. The generic congressional poll shows the Republicans ahead by two, with only 34 percent saying their own representative deserves re-election. By a margin of 48 to 41 percent, respondents favor a smaller government with fewer services over a bigger government with more services.
The Gray Lady is preparing its readers for the day of reckoning, edging its polling closer to more credible competing polls just in time for Election Day. (Looks bad when you miss the final results by a mile.) The Obami, their spin squad, and members of Congress should be making preparations as well. I advise against adopting the tactic of the left blogosphere — screeching that Americans are irrational bigots. It tends to annoy voters when you call them un-American or stooges of the insurance industry or uninformed or … oh wait. Yes, that probably has made them madder than they already were.
The president and the Senate and House Democratic survivors will have a choice to make: continue down the path that led to the defeat of so many colleagues and an anemic recovery or shift gears. It is a measure of the White House’s hubris and cluelessness that I’m really not certain which way they’ll go.