OBAMA SINKING AGAIN IN POLLS – AT 11:12 A.M. ET:  We remind readers that a poll is a snapshot in time, and that counting Mr. Obama out for 2012 as a result of current polls would be foolishness defined.  Still, current polls will influence the attitudes of other political players, foreign and domestic, toward Obama, and so we report them.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's approval ratings have sunk to the lowest level of his presidency, so low that he'd lose the White House to Republican Mitt Romney if the election were held today, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.

The biggest reason for Obama's fall: a sharp drop in approval among Democrats and liberals, apparently unhappy with his moves toward the center since he led the party to landslide losses in November's midterm elections. At the same time, he's gained nothing among independents.

"He's having the worst of both worlds right now," said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in New York, which conducted the national survey.

"As he moves to the center, he's not picking up support among independents and he's having some fall-off among his base. If his strategy is to gain independents and keep the Democrats in tow, it isn't working so far."

And...

Overall, just 42 percent of registered voters approve of how he's doing his job, while 50 percent disapprove.

Obama's standing among Democrats dropped from a month ago, with his approval rating falling to 74 percent from 83 percent, and his disapproval rating almost doubling, from 11 percent to 21 percent.

COMMENT:  I just love it.  Apparently, the Democrats think they can get a president even further to the left, if they protest enough.  President-elect Kucinich comes to mind. 

Remember that it's only been a month since the election.  If Obama moves to the center, convincingly, it will take time before the move shows up in polls of independents.  It showed up decisively with Bill Clinton.  Do not count Obama out.

December 12, 2010