WHERE OBAMA STANDS – AT 11:02 A.M. ET:  The president has suffered a sudden and substantial decline in the Rasmussen survey, which polls likely voters.  He had been showing some strength in that survey, but is slipping back to fire-sale numbers:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 23% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-nine percent (39%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -16.

And...

Overall, 47% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. Fifty-three (53%) at least somewhat disapprove.

And get this:

When President Obama first took office, 39% of voters nationwide expected the economy to be stronger in a year. By July 2009, confidence that the economy would be stronger peaked at 45%. By the middle of 2010, just 37% expected the economy to be stronger in a year. Now, just 31% hold such optimism.

If we had a parliamentary system, Obama might well lose a vote of confidence.  He is clearly in trouble, and yet polls show him doing respectably well against any Republican opponent.  That means that the GOP clearly has its work cut out for it.  It has such opportunities, if it gets its act together, nominates a strong candidate with wide appeal, and constructs a platform that can attract the independents who are abandoning Obama in droves.

June 12, 2011