WHERE OBAMA STANDS – AT 10:47 A.M. ET:  He stands pretty well in the polls, far better than many on our side imagine.

While the "bin Laden bounce" may be gone from Mr. Obama's poll ratings, he still retains the gains he's made since the November election, in which his party got trounced.  In fact, Obama is moving into the kind of territory from which successful reelection bids are launched.  Hate to bring you the bad news.

Scott Rasmussen today reports the following:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-five percent (35%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -10.

Looks bad for Obama...until we realize that scores of -16 or so were common just months ago.

Overall, 50% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. Fifty percent (50%) at least somewhat disapprove.

Again, looks like the president is struggling...until we realize that it was routine, just months ago, to have the president losing that matchup by about five points.

The latest Rasmussen survey was taken before the full impact of this last week's economic announcements was felt.  His current second honeymoon may not last.  But it's foolish to deny the obvious, that Mr. Obama has been making steady progress in the polls despite the onslaught from GOP candidates and spokesmen. 

We have work to do.

June 5, 2011