OBAMA IN LESS THAN GREAT SHAPE ON ELECTION DAY - AT 9:17 A.M. ET:  No matter how CNN spins it, in reporting its latest poll, the president is not doing well with the American public:

WASHINGTON (CNN) - One year after he won an historical presidential election, a slight majority of Americans approve of the job Barack Obama's doing in the White House.

Fifty-four percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday morning approve of how Obama's handling his duties as president, with 45 percent saying they disapprove.

Hardly worthy of applause.  And notice that the poll, as described later in the piece, was conducted among "adult Americans."  Not even registered voters.  Not even likely voters.  Polls among all adults with a pulse tend to overestimate the Democratic vote.  Actual returns trend more Republican.  So 54% is less than wonderful.  Rasmussen yesterday had Obama at 46% among likely voters.  If CNN polled likelies, they'd probably have a figure closer to Ras's. 

CNN puts on a happy face...at first:

"Obama's approval rating of 54 percent is nearly identical to the 53 percent of the vote he won a year ago," notes CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "And in nearly every demographic category, the percent that approve of Obama today is within two to three points of the percent who voted for him in 2008..."

And then the bad news:

The survey suggests that the president's approval rating remains over 50 percent even though most Americans disapprove of how Obama is handling the economy, health care, Afghanistan, Iraq, unemployment, illegal immigration and the federal budget deficit.

And then, of course, there are the major issues. 

Just look at that list.  Americans are rejecting the policies of this administration.

More happy face:

Six in ten say Obama inspires confidence in them; six in ten also call him a strong leader who is honest and trustworthy. 63 percent say he is not a typical politician. More than half gives Obama a thumbs-up on 11 of the 12 personal characteristics tested...

That's nice.  Now more real world:

Only 45 percent say he has a clear plan for solving the country's problems - the only item on which a majority has a negative view of him.

Yeah, and who cares about that?  Right?

This is not good news for the White House.  Maybe it's time for the president to take another "rock star" tour of European youth.

November 3, 2009