OBAMA POLL NUMBERS DOWN - AT 9:34 A.M. ET:  This may well change as a result of the bump the president is likely to receive because of the hostage rescue, but Rasmussen is reporting declining poll numbers for Mr. Obama.

Some 55 percent of respondents approve of the job the president is doing, as opposed to 44 percent who don't.  That is a remarkably think spread, given that the gap was 65-30 on the day after inauguration.

Even more distressing for Mr. Obama is Rasmussen's "presidential approval index," the gap between those who strongly approve and those who strongly disapprove.  That stands this morning at 34-32, only two points apart, the worst rating the president has received in the Rasmussen survey thus far.

April 13, 2009