WHERE OBAMA STANDS – AT 10:36 A.M. ET:  After a bump in the polls following his Tucson speech, Rasmussen is reporting that President Obama's poll numbers are starting to settle back again, although they're still higher than they have been in recent months.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that 28% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -9 (see trends).

These results are based upon nightly telephone surveys and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. As a result, today’s results are the first based entirely upon interviews conducted after the speech. Just before the speech, the president’s Approval Index rating was -5.

And...

Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. Just before the State-of-the-Union Address, the president’s overall approval rating reached a 15-month high at 52%.

Forty-nine percent (49%) now disapprove.

COMMENT:   The American people will be judging the president on his handling of the Mideast crisis, but eventually the economy will dominate voters' opinions.

Mr. Obama's current ratings are respectable, if not spectacular.  They are respectable enough to get him reelected, if these numbers hold, especially in the face of a Republican field with no discernible major vote getter.  But if the president's ratings return to the low 40's, the game is changed...assuming the GOP can come up with a candidate who can breathe and have a heartbeat at the same time.

January 29, 2011