IF HELD TODAY - AT 10:06 A.M. ET:  Interesting results from a Fox poll, essentially rerunning the 2008 election.  Reported by Politics Daily:

Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election by 53 percent to 46 percent but when voters were asked how he would have done if they knew what they knew now that ratio changes to 48 percent to 41 percent, according to a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted Oct. 27-28.

In other words, he would still win, but would not get a majority of the vote.  However, the opposition drops as well, indicating, as we have warned, that the Republican Party remains unpopular and cannot depend on Obama mistakes for its future.

That said, when asked how satisfied with what Obama has accomplished as president, 56 percent said they were very or somewhat satisfied while 43 percent said they were somewhat or not satisfied.

When asked whether Obama is meeting or exceeding expectations, or falling below expectation, 40 percent said he is meeting them, 8 percent say he is exceeding them, 47 percent saying he is falling below expectations and 4 percent say it is too soon to tell.

There are some mixed results here, depending on what question is asked. 

Forty-four percent believe Obama is keeping promises he made during his campaign while 39 percent said he was breaking them, 8 percent said it was too soon to tell, 5 percent said he was keeping some and breaking others, and 4 percent were undecided.

But despite Obama's message of change during the campaign, 56 percent say what's going on in Washington is more of the same compared to 39 percent who believe there has been real change.

COMMENT:  Obama is showing political weakness.  The shine is gone.  But the White House political machine is effective and brutal, and Republicans still have not come up with a winning formula to turn the trends around.  As columnist Tony Blankley puts it, Republicans cannot vote "present" on the country's future.  Can anyone actually describe the GOP agenda? 

The 2010 midterms are critical.  A week is a lifetime in politics.  No one should be content simply because the current trends are going our way.

October 30, 2009