A Matter of Interpretation
by digby
These new polls (via TPM) showing Obama's approval rating slipping are probably irrelevant to anything concerning the 2012 race, but when you look at the numbers in the possible match-ups bewteen him and the motley GOP line-up, you have to feel a little bit of a chill. I doubt very seriously that he will have any real competition --- even the best GOP case of T-Paw or Daniels has "Mondale redux" written all over it.
But that doesn't mean these numbers are meaningless. The danger lies in how the Obama campaign and the Democrats interpret them (or use and an excuse to pass certain policies.) Do they see slippage as a sign that they haven't been accommodating enough? That they need to find more ways to "compromise" to be seen as "getting things done"? Or do they look at these numbers as a sign that they need to fight the Republicans harder on their extremist agenda?
Let's just say that the numbers probably indicate that they need to change something. The question is what they think they need to change.
.