MORE POLLING GRIMNESS FOR THE OBAMA BATTALIONS – AT 9:09 A.M. ET:  A new Quinnipiac poll just published contains more bad reading for the White House:

American voters are split 45 - 45 percent on whether Barack Obama's first year in office is a success or failure and split 35 - 37 percent on whether the U.S. would be better off if John McCain had won the 2008 election, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released today. As he marks the first anniversary of his inauguration, President Obama's approval has slipped slightly into an even 45 - 45 percent split for the first time.

The polls are starting to align, with Obama's approval rating somewhere in the mid 40s. 

That doesn't mean the GOP is particular popular.  One discouraging aspect of the poll is that Americans still have an anger toward George W. Bush:

By a 43 - 30 percent margin American voters think Obama has been a better President than George W. Bush, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University survey finds. Voters blame Bush more than Obama 55 - 20 percent for the current economic conditions, but they say 35 - 24 percent that Obama's policies have made the United States less safe than those of his predecessor. Another 38 percent say safety is about the same.

COMMENT:  What must be discouraging for the White House is the relentlessness of the president's downward trajectory in the polls.  He has had a slight uptick on the terrorism issue, understandable in light of his major P.R. offensive to prove he's "tough."  (As Lincoln said, you can fool all of the people some of the time.)  But Mr. Obama is in a hole, and his party keeps on digging. 

However, as we've cautioned before, this doesn't mean the GOP is loved.  It isn't, and that must be turned around to have the maximum possible victory in November.

January 13, 2010