STUNNING, JUST IN - AT 9:40 A.M. ET:  Rasmussen has just published its daily tracker, showing Barack Obama with the lowest rating yet recorded in Ras's presidential approval index.  The index records the gap between those who strongly approve and those who strongly disapprove of presidential performance:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -15. This is the lowest Approval Index rating yet measured for President Obama.

One analyst said last night that the president has become "radioactive" in a number of swing districts.

Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. That matches the lowest level of total approval yet measured for this president. Eighty-one percent (81%) of Democrats approve as do 33% of unaffiliated voters. Eighty-three percent (83%) of Republicans disapprove.

Among all voters, 54% now disapprove.

We should note that other polls have the president somewhat higher, but not by much.  The overall trend is dramatically down.  What is worse for President Obama is that the passion of those against him far exceeds the passion of those for him. 

V.O. Key, the great political scientist of Yale, famously remarked that the voters aren't idiots.  Sometimes, of course, they can be conned, as they were in 2008.  But, eventually, they find out the truth.  It's pretty clear that an increasing number don't like what they see. 

We are little more than a month away from 2010, which could turn out to be as important a political year as 2008.

November 24, 2009