From April to mid-June, Obama seemed to have a fairly comfortable margin between his strong supporters and strong opponents, sometimes closing to a point or less and sometimes widening to about ten points. But the last couple of weeks have not been kind. Several days, the percentage of Americans who strongly disapproved of Obama was actually greater than the percentage of Americans who strongly approved of Obama. As of June 30, the number of strongly disapprove is actually two points greater than the number who strongly approve.
What does this mean? Well, it does not mean that the flighty, rock star popularity of Obama is fading, but it does mean that any deep enthusiasm for him has grown progressively weaker, just as the number of Americans who are deeply worried about him has kept growing. It means -- and the polls show this too -- that more and more Americans are holding Obama accountable for our economy and no longer blame President Bush. It means that action, or inaction, about the riots against the mullahs in Iran will hurt Obama if our position is perceived as causing failure. It means that the far left Kool Aid drinkers who thought that after inauguration day Obama would simply withdraw close Gitmo feel like idiots (mainly, of course, because they look like idiots.)